Sambo is a martial art with Soviet origins, an internationally practiced combat sport, and a recognized style of amateur wrestling included by UWW in the World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
Football is a major sport in Abkhazia. During Soviet times, the main club within Abkhazia itself was FC Dinamo Sukhumi, but Abkhazian footballers were prominent in the Georgian team FC Dinamo Tbilisi and in other Soviet teams. In 1994, after its declaration of independence from Georgia, Abkhazia organised a nine-team amateur league.
Sport in Azerbaijan has ancient roots, and even now, both traditional and modern sports are still practiced. Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Azerbaijan's national sport, however today, the most popular sports in Azerbaijan are football and chess. Other popular sports are gymnastics, judo, futsal, weightlifting, and boxing. Azerbaijan's mountainous terrain provides great opportunities for the practice of sports like skiing and rock climbing. Water sports are practiced on the Caspian Sea and in inland waters. Competitively, Azerbaijan has been very successful at chess, weightlifting, and wrestling at the international level. Azerbaijan is also an active member of the international sports community, with full membership in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), European Athletics Association (EAA), International Olympic Committee (IOC), among many others. It has also hosted the first European Games and 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. Azerbaijan has recently employed a number of top Iranian athletes and coaches to its national teams by granting them Azerbaijani nationalities. These include Saman Tahmasebi, Sabah Shariati and Jamshid Kheyrabadi in wrestling; and Reza Mehmandoost and Milad Beigi in Taekwondo.
Vladimir Modosyan is a former Soviet Armenian Freestyle wrestler. He is a World Champion, two-time European Championships silver medalist, and World Cup winner.
Natalia Vitalyevna Vorobieva is a Russian wrestler, who has won the Olympic, World and European titles.
Abdulrashid Bulachevich Sadulaev is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 97 kilograms and formerly competed at 86 kilograms. Sadulaev is widely regarded as the most dominant active freestyle wrestler in the world.
David Morris Taylor III is an American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 86 kilograms. In 2021, Taylor became the 2020 Olympic gold medalist after defeating reigning Olympic and World Champion Hassan Yazdani, a feat he repeated from the 2018 World Championship where he stormed his way to the title. He later became the 2021 World Championship runner-up, after being defeated by Yazdani. Then, at the 2022 World Championships, he avenged that loss by defeating Yazdani once again to reclaim his world title.
Dauren Khalidovich Kurugliev is a Russian mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler of Lezgin descent. He is a 2019 European Games gold medalist and a European champion.
Gadzhimurad Gazigandovich Rashidov is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 65 kilograms. He is the 2019 World Champion and the 2020 and three-time Russian National Champion. 2020 Summer Olympics bronze medalist at 65 kg.
Zaur Rizvanovich Uguev is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. He claimed the 2020 Summer Olympic Games gold medal after back-to-back World Championships in 2018 and 2019, as well as a 2020 Individual World Cup title. A four-time Russian National champion, Uguev is also a European Games and European Championship medalist.
Prior to the 2019 decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Russia was expected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which took place from 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would have been the country's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent nation, but their athletes were entered by and representing the "Russian Olympic Committee", using the acronym "ROC" for a country name.
Zaurbek Kazbekovich Sidakov is a Russian freestyle wrestler, who competes at 74 kilograms. Sidakov is reigning Olympic champion in the 74 kg and a two-time World Champion, claiming his titles in 2018 and 2019 by defeating the likes of five-time World and Olympic champion, Jordan Burroughs, two-time World Champion, Frank Chamizo and U23 World Champion, Avtandil Kentchadze.
Ukraine competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era with its smallest representation ever.
Bulgaria competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bulgarian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1924, except for three occasions: the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of Bulgaria's actions in World War II and the worldwide Great Depression and Soviet boycott, respectively.
Stevan Andrija Mićić is a Serbian-American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. He is the first wrestler representing Serbia to win a medal in men's freestyle wrestling at the World Wrestling Championships.
Arsen Karen Harutyunyan is an Armenian freestyle wrestler.
Magomedrasul Musayevich Idrisov is a Russian freestyle wrestler. He won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 61 kg event at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Vladislav Valiev is a Russian freestyle wrestler. He won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 86 kg event at the 2019 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania. He also won one of the bronze medals at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships held in Paris, France.
Magomedgaji Nurov, sometimes written as Magomedgadzhi Nurov is a Russian-Macedonian freestyle wrestler. He won one of the bronze medals in the men's 97 kg event at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. He represented North Macedonia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia 
Dagestan 
