“There Were No Other Options”: Iryna Koliadenko Wins Fourth European Wrestling Gold in Dominant Style

Ukrainian freestyle wrestler Iryna Koliadenko reclaimed her European champion title by winning gold in Tyrana, Albania, in the women’s 65 kg weight category.

Exclusive comment from Ukraine team leader for Suspilne Sport.

The 27-year-old Koliadenko has been a constant medalist at the continental championships. Since 2020, the Ukrainian missed only one European Championship — in 2022, which began a month after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In all the others, she has now collected six medals of different colors.

The 2026 title is the fourth of Koliadenko’s career, won five years after her debut European crown in 2021. Speaking in an exclusive comment for Suspilne Sport, the wrestler explained how the feelings from those victories differ:

“Every victory has its own taste, as they say. Every gold medal, and every award in general, probably feels different emotionally. You either have the strength to celebrate, or honestly, you don’t have the strength.”

“In recent years, I probably can’t say that I celebrate as emotionally as I did with my first medals. I just feel a little emotionally tired. And even everything happening in our country still drains you emotionally. It shows itself in moments like these. It feels like you should be happy, you should have emotions, but they aren’t there. Because they are simply exhausted — both the good and the bad ones. So every victory has its own taste.”

Koliadenko’s path through the bracket to gold included three bouts, and she did not concede a single point in any of them. The Ukrainian started with a victory over Iris Thiebaux (10:0), then defeated Natalia Kubaty by another double-digit margin (11:0).

In the final, Koliadenko defeated a “neutral” opponent, reigning world silver medalist Alina Kasabieva, also in a confident manner without conceding a single point (9:0). Thus, Iryna matched her own achievement from 2024, when she also did not give up a single point on her way to the title.

“This speaks about experience, about perfect work with the coach — it is what makes the difference. Probably 90% of all the victories I have are with my coach in the team.”

“Did I prepare for gold? Yes, of course. I had no other options — only gold.”

“Of course, experience still shows itself in such decisive moments, when you can’t allow yourself to give away even a single point, you grit your teeth. I know that I’m winning 9:0 and I can afford to give away some points. I can’t say it’s exactly character, but sport hardens you and sharpens you for victory in every moment — that’s why I can’t [allow myself to concede a point]. I fought through every moment until the end. It wasn’t planned — it just happened.”

During the season, wrestlers will also face a second major international tournament — the 2026 World Championships, which will be hosted by Bahrain in October and November.

Koliadenko has already secured her participation in the World Championships as the European champion. At this level, the Ukrainian has won medals of two types — silver (2019) and bronze (2023) — but whether she is planning a run for her first gold remains an open question:

“We’ll see. If nothing changes, [I plan to]. Still, age is a factor too. Athletic age is a bit shorter. You usually say you’re only 27, but if you think that I’ve already been in professional sport for 18 years… I don’t know, my joints could give out at any moment. That’s why I don’t plan too far ahead.”

Apart from a World Championship gold, Koliadenko has also come close to becoming Olympic champion. Her closest attempt came in Paris, where she won silver in the 62 kg category.

Does she think about gold in 2028?

“Right now I can’t say. I didn’t have that mindset before Tokyo, and not before Paris either. There are still two years until the Los Angeles Olympics. That’s a very long time, especially in our reality, when sometimes you just need to survive.”

“I’m used to solving my tasks, let’s say, as they come. We’ll see then. Right now there was the European Championships. Next I need to recover, rest, and work at home, because I also have a sports club — it needs my attention as well. So I’ll work here for now, and then we’ll see.”

Parviz Nasibov, the Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist representing Ukraine in Greco-Roman wrestling, says that ahead of the next Olympics he still repeats his desire to “exchange” his two silver medals at this level for a first-ever gold.

For her part, Koliadenko also admits that, if given the chance, she might trade a unique Olympic champion title for medals from top-level tournaments. The gold from Euro 2026 became a milestone — already the 10th such award in her career.

“I think so [I would exchange them]. I don’t know about two Olympic awards. It’s still somehow difficult, something inside holds me back. But if I think about it, probably yes, I would exchange all my medals.”

“My coach and I already counted — ten European and world medals in total. I would probably exchange them for one Olympic gold. After all, an Olympic champion is an Olympic champion.”

Iryna Koliadenko: all medals of the Ukrainian athlete at major tournaments

Olympic Games: silver (2024) + bronze (2020)

World Championships: silver (2019) + bronze (2023)

European Championships: gold (2021, 2023, 2024, 2026) + bronze (2020, 2025)

European Wrestling Championships 2026: how Ukraine performed

Koliadenko became one of the six gold medallists for Ukraine in Tyrana, Albania. All of Ukraine’s victories were won in women’s freestyle wrestling.

For the tenth time, the Ukrainian women’s national wrestling team won the team standings at the European Championships. The “blue-and-yellows” have consistently finished first at four consecutive tournaments since 2023.

The six gold medals allowed Ukraine to finish first in the overall medal table across all disciplines — this happened for the first time in history.