OMM Newsroom
Azerbaijan’s team won five medals—two silver and three bronze—at the U23 World Wrestling Championships, which concluded in Las Vegas, United States. A total of 23 athletes represented the country; only two reached the finals, and both lost their decisive bouts.
Azerbaijan therefore failed to win gold at the U23 world championships for the first time in three years. The team matched its lowest medal tally in the competition’s history. It also won five medals in 2017, but all of them were bronze.
Finalists and medalists
In women’s wrestling, Gunay Gurbanova lost to Ukraine’s Alina Filipovych in the 59kg final, 4-4. Gurbanova led 4-2 until the final 16 seconds, but was judged to have lost under the last-point criterion. In Greco-Roman wrestling, Elmir Aliyev lost 4-13 to Kazakhstan’s Aibek Aitbekov in the 60kg final.
Khetag Karsanov (125kg), Ruslan Nurullayev (77kg) and Anar Jafarli (92kg) won bronze medals. Of the four athletes who also medaled at the previous U23 world championships, Jafarli was the only new addition to this year’s medal-winning group.
Azerbaijan won 11 medals in 2023, eight in 2024 and seven in 2025. The 2025 haul included three gold medals. The result in Las Vegas has raised questions about the depth of the country’s young wrestling talent and the team’s performance in decisive bouts.
Context
Elmir Aliyev reached the quarterfinals in the 60kg category at the competition in Las Vegas on October 13.
