UWW announces Los Angeles Olympics 2028 qualification process, reveals quota distribution per competition
The United World Wrestling on Monday overhauled the qualification process for the Olympic Games.
Beginning with Los Angeles 2028, the 16 wrestlers who qualify per weight class will earn their spots through four routes: the World Championships, Continental Qualifiers, the World Olympic Qualifier, and the UWW Rankings.
The World Championships next year will see the first qualification phase commence by awarding 72 Olympic quotas. Each medallist (gold, silver, and two bronze) in the 18 Olympic weight classes will earn LA 2028 spots for their respective National Olympic Committees (NOC).
Following this, the NOCs of the first three wrestlers in the UWW Rankings who do not qualify during the first phase will obtain one quota place each. The UWW Rankings will include the seven main events organized before the LA28 Olympic Games: the 2027 Senior Continental Championships, the 2027 Ranking Series (three events), the 2027 Senior World Championships, the 2028 Ranking Series (one event), and the 2028 Senior Continental Championships. The UWW will only consider the best two out of three continental results.
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The Continental Qualifiers—Europe, Asia, Pan-America, and Africa & Oceania—in phase three will award two quotas per weight class. A total of 144 wrestlers will be awarded at these continental events.
The fourth and final phase of qualification will be the World Olympic Qualifier, which will offer 18 quotas for the gold medallists. Only the countries that did not obtain a quota place during the previous three phases may participate in the World Olympic Qualifiers. The participating countries may only send two wrestlers across all styles.
Seeding Changes
During the Olympic cycle, seeds will be assigned based on the following event tiers:
1. Four-seed events: Continental Championships, Continental Qualifiers, and the World Qualifier.
2. Eight-seed events: Ranking Series, World Championships, and the Olympic Games.
These same events will be used to seed wrestlers throughout the 2028 season.
There has been a key change in the seeding rule with respect to the Olympic Games—the country keeps the seed even if it replaces the athlete who earned it. In all other events, the seed belongs to the wrestler, and a nation loses it if a different athlete competes.
Seeding for the 2028 Olympic Games will be based on results from three 2027 Ranking Series events, the 2027 Continental Championships (or Continental Games, if applicable), the 2027 World Championships, one 2028 Ranking Series event, and the 2028 Continental Championships.
Published on Feb 03, 2026