This year at the IFMA World Championships over 20 countries shared the medal podiums which shows how strongly Muaythai has grown around the world.
The teams competed across men’s, women’s and junior male and female contests with some teams entering boxers in all categories. Senior level male fighters are split into two divisions depending on ability.
Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in each weight category for all sections.
Russia took home 16 medals from the senior men and women’s divisions, including one gold, eight silver and seven bronze.
Belarus and Sweden each took ten medals in these divisions. Belarus took five gold, one silver and four bronze medals.
Thailand, the motherland of Muaythai, went home with nine medals at these levels. This included an astonishing six gold medals, and three silver.
Sweden, host country for the 2016 tournament, took four golds in the women’s category, two silver and four bronze medals at male A level.
These images show just a taste of the emotions which some of the boxers felt on the final day of fighting when medals were awarded for senior male and female bouts.
Ukraine gained eight medals in the senior divisions, going home with two golds, four silver and two bronze medals.
Kazakhstan’s senior men’s team won three medals: two silver and one bronze.
Canada took one silver and three bronze in the male and female contests, with a gold medal among their results from the second male category.
Turkey gained six medals with five bronze and one silver for their efforts. Finland took five medals, with one gold in the women’s category and four bronze.
France won four medals, all bronze. Vietnam took one silver and one bronze medal, while Iran men’s team took three bronze.
Australia took home two medals from the women’s category; one gold and one bronze.
.Peru claimed gold at two levels; women’s and junior male.
Three countries gained bronze medals in the men’s contest: Georgia, Germany and Poland.
Other countries took home one gold medal each: Morocco, and Israel with one gold also going to the United Kingdom in the junior female contest. Switzerland took silver also in the junior contest but for men. The Czech republic and Denmark also claimed junior medals.
Algeria took two medals in the men’s junior and second senior male divisions. And other countries nabbed podium-places also in different divisions.
It’s exciting to see new countries coming up the ranks as Muaythai becomes more embedded in the global sporting culture. It was especially thrilling to see the junior level contests with many of the bouts just as technical and skilful as their older counterparts.
More photographs and video on IFMA Muaythai Facebook and IFMA Muaythai Instagram
