Akzhol Makhamadzhanovich Makhmudov (russian: Акжол Махамаджанович Махмудов; born 15 April 1999) is a Kyrgyzstani Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the silver medal in 77kg event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan. He won a gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, becoming Kyrgyzstan's first ever Greco-Roman World champion. Makhmudov repeated his success a year later at the 2023 World Championships, and won another gold medal- becoming a two-time World champion.

Wrestling career

Until senior level

Makhmudov took up wrestling aged six, following his two elder brothers. He later won two Asian cadet championships and the 2017 Junior Asian championships. Makhmudov also became the cadet world champion in 2016, and won a silver medal at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Tampere.

2018

In 2018, Makhmudov had his first senior level tournament when he entered the Kyrgyzstan National Wrestling Championships. He won the 77 kg division, and was included to the senior national team. At the 2018 Asian Championships, Makhmudov competed in the 72 kg category, and won Ahmad Mahmoud Dashan (12–2), then Kuldeep Malik (8–0) and Tomohiro Inoue (7–0). In the final he faced the

2017 World Wrestling Championships The 2017 World Wrestling Championships were the 14th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held from August 21 to 27 in Paris, France. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Gre ...

silver medalist Demeu Zhadrayev. He won 8–6, becoming the youngest ever wrestler from Kyrgyzstan to earn a gold medal at senior level at the Asian Championships. At the 2018 Asian Games, Makhmudov moved back to the 77 kg division and reached the final, where he lost to Mohammadali Geraei. At the 2018 Junior World Championships, he lost to Islam Opiev of Russia in the quarter-final but went on to wrestle in the repechage stage and won a bronze medal against Kamal Bey of the US in their rematch of the Junior World Championships final.

2020 Olympic Games

Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games were postponed from their originally scheduled 2020 start date, to the Summer of 2021. Missing out on Olympic Qualification, Makhmudov had to wrestle at the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Makhmudov won all three of his matches and obtained gold, which awarded him Olympic qualification. To start his first Olympic journey, Makhmudov defeated Tunisia's

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by 11-0 technical superiority, a winner from the Africa and Oceania Wrestling Qualification tournament, he then defeated former two-time European Champion,

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of Azerbaijan which won him a place in the semi-finals. Faced with 2-time European Championships and Games medallist, Armenian wrestler

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, and beat his Armenian opponent 6-2 to advance him into the finals, opposite 2012 Olympic Silver medallist, and 2019 World champion, Hungary's Tamás Lőrincz. After a low-scoring six minutes, Lőrincz won the match 2-1, with Makhmudov leaving with a silver medal

2022 World Championships

Makhmudov returned to the mat at the

2022 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2022 Asian Wrestling Championships was the 35th edition of Asian Wrestling Championships of combined events, and took place from April 19 to 24 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Gre ...

held in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. Makhmudov won the gold medal by beating Maxat Yerezhepov in the final at 77 kg.

Senior results

Personal life

Makhmudov is the third child in a family of a salesman. He currently studies at the Kyrgyz State Law Academy in Bishkek. He is said to originally be from the Nookat Region, Osh Oblast (Ноокатский район, Ошская область) in southern Kyrgyzstan. He enjoys playing billiards and tennis. Makhmudov started wrestling in Osh. He moved to Bishkek in 6th grade and began training under Merited Master of Sport, Zhenish Satybaldiev. In 8th grade he began training at the Olympic reserve under coach, Meyrambek Akhmetov.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Makhmudov, Akzhol Living people People from Osh People from Osh Region Kyrgyzstani male sport wrestlers 1999 births Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2022 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in wrestling Asian Games gold medalists for Kyrgyzstan Asian Games silver medalists for Kyrgyzstan Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in wrestling Olympic silver medalists for Kyrgyzstan Asian Wrestling Championships medalists World Wrestling Championships medalists Olympic wrestlers for Kyrgyzstan 21st-century Kyrgyzstani people World Wrestling Champions Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Kyrgyzstan