Sport in Albania revolves mostly around team sports, such as football, basketball, volleyball and handball. Other sports includes boxing, weightlifting, tennis, swimming, judo, karate, athletics, table tennis, rugby, cricket, and chess. Football in particular has seen a rapid transformation, with the Albania national football team making its debut at the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship. The national football team also qualified for the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship. Many Albanian athletes have also achieved significant success and have won European and Mediterranean titles in numerous sports during the years, such as wrestling, football, athletics and weightlifting. Albanian athletes have won a total 49 medals for Albania in 8 different Mediterranean sports. Albania has had some success in others sport such as volleyball and basketball as well.
Armen Nazaryan is an Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler who later represented Bulgaria. Nazaryan is a two-time Olympic Champion, a three-time World Champion, and a six-time European Champion. After Armenia regained independence in 1991, Nazaryan became the first Olympic gold medalist for the country. He was recognized by the FILA as the best wrestler of the year in 1998 and 2003. In 2007, Nazaryan was inducted as a member of the FILA Hall of Fame.
Kazım Ayvaz was a Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the lightweight class and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1964 Olympics and became world champion twice.
Mehmet Akif Pirim, is a former Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the featherweight class (62 kg), and currently a trainer. He won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling and the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Hamid Sourian Reihanpour or Hamid Soryan is a retired Iranian wrestler. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Greco-Roman wrestlers of all time. Sourian is 2012 Summer Olympic games gold medalist and six-time World Champion. He won both the Junior World Championships and Senior World Championships in 2005. He is also 2007 and 2008 Asian championships gold medalist.
Albania sent a team to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China which was organised by the National Olympic Committee of Albania.
Anton Koolmann was a wrestler and coach from Kuusalu Parish, Estonia who took part at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Ghasem Rezaei is an Iranian former Greco-Roman wrestler. He was an Olympic gold and bronze medalist and two-time Asian Champion. His nickname is Tiger of Amol.
Tsimafei Aliaksandravich Dzeinichenka is an amateur Belarusian Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's heavyweight category. He won a silver medal for his division at the 2010 European Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, and eventually defeated Armenia's Artur Aleksanyan for the gold at the 2011 European Wrestling Championships in Dortmund, Germany. He also captured a silver medal in the same division at the 2010 World Wrestling Championships in Moscow, Russia, losing out to Iran's Amir Aliakbari. Dzeinichenka is a member of the wrestling team for Dynamo Homel, and is coached and trained by Ihar Piatrenka.
Aydın Polatçı is a Turkish wrestler. He was born in Istanbul. He was Olympic bronze medalist in Freestyle wrestling in 2004. He also competed at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics.
Ikhtiyor Navruzov is an Uzbek freestyle wrestler. He competed in the 66 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and lost quarter finals match against India's Sushil Kumar. He is a silver 2015 World Wrestling Championships medalist in the 65 kg, gold medalist of 2018 Bishkek, 2 times silver medalist and 2 bronze medalist of Asian Wrestling Championships.
Marek Švec is an amateur Greco-Roman wrestler from the Czech Republic. He is a three-time Olympian, and also, a multiple-time medalist at both the World and European Championships. He also won the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Mihály Deák-Bárdos is a Hungarian amateur Greco-Roman wrestler, who played for the men's super heavyweight category. He is a four-time Olympian, and a six-time medalist at the European Championships. Deák-Bárdos had also won a total of five silver medals at the World Championships, losing out to numerous top-level wrestlers including Alexander Karelin, Rulon Gardner, Khasan Baroyev, and Mijaín López, all of whom were Olympic champions in the same division.
Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu is an amateur Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler, who competes in the men's heavyweight category. He won one of the bronze medals in the 130 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. He is a member of CS Botoşani for the wrestling division, and is coached and trained by Victor Baciu.
Soso Jabidze is an amateur Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler, who competes in the men's heavyweight category. He won a bronze medal in his division at the 2010 European Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Xenofon Koutsioumpas is an amateur Greek Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's super heavyweight category. Koutsioumpas has claimed two medals at the Mediterranean Games, a bronze in the 120-kg division at the 2001 World Wrestling Championships in Patras, and has been selected to the nation's Olympic wrestling team when Greece hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Throughout his sporting career, Koutsioumpas, along with his younger brother Georgios, trained as a member of the Greco-Roman wrestling team for Olympiacos F.C. in Piraeus, with whom he won the European CELA Cup in 2006. Since 2012 they have been training at Atlas Mytilenes under their head coach Sotirios Petrakis.
Bulgaria competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Bulgaria made their official debut at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Bulgarian athletes had 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 WW2, the worldwide Great Depression and the Soviet boycott, respectively.
Elis Manolova is a Bulgarian-born Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler. At the 2019 World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 65 kg event. She is also a gold medalist and a three-time silver medalist at the European Wrestling Championships. She represented Azerbaijan at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Nikoloz Kakhelashvili is a Georgian-born Italian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a two-time medalist at the European Wrestling Championships.
Kiril Milenov Milov is a Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a two-time silver medalist in the men's 97 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships. He represented Bulgaria at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
