European Wrestling Championships
| European Wrestling Championships | |
|---|---|
| Status | active |
| Genre | sports event |
| Date(s) | February – May |
| Frequency | annual |
| Location(s) | various |
| Inaugurated | 1911 |
| Activity | amateur wrestling |
| Organised by | FILA → UWW Europe |
The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships and is second only to the wrestling events at the Olympics. From its inception in 1898 till 1927 only Greco-Roman wrestling was contested. Since 1929 separate freestyle wrestling events were held as well. Since 1970 the two Olympic wrestling styles were contested together during the same unified events. Since 1973 Sambo wrestling was included into the championships programme along with GR and freestyle wrestling (subsequently disctontinued and from 1983 contested separately.) Since 2014 associated traditional wrestling styles recognized globally by UWW were incorporated into the annual championships schedule.