This year's event broke participation records, with 290 participants in 2026 compared to 267 in 2025
The championship is organised by the International Massage Association
Competitors receive a diploma to help them market their massage therapy businesses
Next year's event will take place between 2-4 July 2027
Turkey came first at this year’s World Championship in Massage between 3-5 July in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Organised by the International Massage Association (IMA), the ninth edition of this tournament saw the highest number of participants yet – 290 from 59 countries. This breaks last year’s record of 267 competitors from 58 countries.
The event is not only an opportunity to compete and showcase different massage specialisms, but it also provides networking possibilities. Competitors are also issued with a diploma to enable therapists to market their businesses and skills in new ways.
This year was also a hybrid event, as it has been in previous years, with a physical massage competition in Denmark as well as participants using Zoom to compete from further afield, with judges watching live.
Participants pay a fee of €260 (US$296, £221) to compete.
Judges from 27 countries evaluated massage therapists’ skills in five key areas:
• Techniques
• Ergonomics and body mechanics
• Flow
• Innovation
• Client contact and empathy
The results
Twenty-eight countries competed in the World’s Best Massage Nation category (which requires a country to be represented by a minimum of three participants) and Turkey was followed by Norway, the Czech Republic, Thailand and Japan.
The overall individual final winners were:
Gold: Yuka Someya, Japan
Silver: Cengizhan Tatar, Turkey
Bronze: Panuwat Srisamajarn, USA
Read about how this year's results compare with those of 2025 in our article from last year.
Therapists competed in massage categories including Swedish, wellness, Thai, freestyle Eastern, freestyle Western, facial massage, body shaping massage and chair massage.
Awards were also given to teachers of massage, schools dedicated to the profession, best massage events of the year plus social media and massage influencers.
For example, massage champions Slav Marinov and Anna Tsankova were inducted into the IMA Hall of Massage Fame 2026. Read about the duo in an issue of Spa Business here.
Jeppe Tengbjerg, founder of IMA, quoted the lyrics to a song used in this year's promotional video, when asked about how this year's competition compared to last year's by Spa Business. The original song is called My Soul, by Ok Listen. Tengbjerg said: "The IMA is the fire the wind can't blow out."
To see a full list of the winners, visit the website.
Next year’s event will take place between 2-4 July in Copenhagen, Denmark. The deadline for registration is 15 June 2027.
