Buvaisar Hamidovich Saitiev, also spelled Buvaysar Hamidovich Saytiev, (russian: Бувайсар Хамидович Сайтиев, ce, Сайт КIант Бувайса) (born March 11, 1975, in
Khasavyurt
Khasavyurt (russian: Хасавю́рт; av, Хасаюрт; ce, Хаси-Эвл, ''Xasi-Evl''; kum, Хасав-ю́рт, ''Xasav-yurt'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Population:
His ...
,
Dagestan ASSR
The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic av, Дагъистаналъул Автономияб Советияб Социалистияб Жумгьурият az, Дағыстан Мухтар Совет Сосиалист Республи ...
) is a Russian retired
freestyle wrestler
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Aleksandr Medved
Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Medved (born 16 September 1937) is a Ukrainian-born Soviet Belarusian retired freestyle wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union and was named "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" by FILA, the sport's governing bod ...
's ten). He is widely considered as the greatest freestyle wrestler of all time. He currently is an acting
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
Deputy from Dagestan.
Life
In 1992, Buvaisar left his hometown of
Khasavyurt
Khasavyurt (russian: Хасавю́рт; av, Хасаюрт; ce, Хаси-Эвл, ''Xasi-Evl''; kum, Хасав-ю́рт, ''Xasav-yurt'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Population:
His ...
,
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
in order to train at a prestigious wrestling center in
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
,
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. His younger brother
Adam Saitiev
Adam Hamidovich Saitiev, also spelled Saytiev, ( ce, Адам Хамидович Сайтиев, born December 12, 1977) is a Russian wrestler of Chechen descent who won gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics for the Russian Federation at 85 kg c ...
would follow in his footsteps.
Soon after graduating from the training center, Saitiev began his quest to represent Russia on the world stage. Buvaisar has been decorated with the
Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...
by the
Russian president
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
. His younger brother
Adam Saitiev
Adam Hamidovich Saitiev, also spelled Saytiev, ( ce, Адам Хамидович Сайтиев, born December 12, 1977) is a Russian wrestler of Chechen descent who won gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics for the Russian Federation at 85 kg c ...
, also a wrestler, won gold in the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
in Sydney.
Buvaisar's life philosophy has been heavily influenced by
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning poet
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
. Saitiev repeats Pasternak's poem, "It is not seemly to be famous," before every match, and according to Buvaisar, the poem has defined his life both inside and outside of wrestling.The Silent Gladiators, p. 237
Wrestling career
Saitiev has won nine world-level gold medals. He is a six-time world champion and a three-time Olympic champion. His senior-level international career began in 1994 and, to date, has continued on through the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In thirteen years, he's entered eleven world championship tournaments, won nine world championship tournaments, and lost only two bouts.
In 1994, Buvaisar lost to Iranian technical wrestler Davood Ghanbari at the World Wrestling Championships at the age of 18
In 1999, Buvaisar did not wrestle at the world championships. Instead his weight class was represented by his younger brother Adam, who won a gold medal. Saitiev also did not compete at the world championships in 2002. He lost to Magomed Isagadjiev at the 2002 Russian Nationals. Isagadjiev went on the win a silver medal at the world championships. In 2007 Saitiev was beat out for the Russian team by
Makhach Murtazaliev
Makhach Dalgatovich Murtazaliev (russian: Махач Далгатович Муртазалиев; born 4 June 1984 in Kedy, Dagestan, Russia) is an Avar born-Russian Olympic wrestler who won the bronze medal for Russia at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...
, who went on to win the world title. According to media reports, Saitiev's training in 2007 was hampered by a neck injury.
Soslan Tigiev
Soslan Tigiev (born October 12, 1983 in Vladikavkaz) is a Russian and Uzbekistani wrestler of Ossetian descent who competed in the freestyle 74 kg category. He was the 2006 Asian Games bronze medalist. Tigiev was initially awarded a silver ...
2008 Olympic Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, -
, Win
, 45-2
, align=left,
Kiril Terziev
Kiril Stoychev Terziev ( bg, Кирил Стойчев Терзиев; born 1 September 1983, in Petrich) is a Bulgarian freestyle wrestler. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternati ...
Cho Byung-kwan
Cho Byung-Kwan (born May 5, 1981) is a male freestyle wrestler from South Korea. He participated in Men's freestyle 74 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 1/16 of final he lost to Buvaisar Saitiev, but he got to the repechage
Repechage (; fre ...
Mihail Ganev
Mihail Petrov Ganev (Bulgarian: Михаил Петров Ганев, born January 5, 1985) is a freestyle wrestler from Bulgaria who won the world title in the 84 kg division in 2010. He was eliminated in the second bout at the 2016 Olympic ...
, style="font-size:88%", 3-0, 2-2, 1-1
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3, September 27, 2006
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3, 2006 World Wrestling Championships
, style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=3,
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Maximo Blanco
Maximo Blanco (born October 16, 1983) is a Venezuelan professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2008, Blanco is the former Lightweight ...
Arpad Ritter
Arpad or Árpád may refer to:
People
* Árpád (given name), a Hungarian men's name
* Árpád (c. 845–907), first ruler of Hungary
Places
* Arpad, Syria, an ancient city in present-day Syria near Tell Rifaat
* Árpád, the Hungarian name for ...
, style="font-size:88%", 3-0, 3-1
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, September 26, 2005
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 2005 World Wrestling Championships
, style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5,
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
Salvatore Rinella
Salvatore Marcello Rinella (; born February 27, 1975, in Palermo) is a retired amateur Italian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category. He won three bronze medals in the 69 and 74-kg division at the Mediterranean Gam ...
Nikolay Paslar
Nikolay Ivanovich Paslar ( bg, Николай Иванович Паслар; born June 12, 1980, in Taraclia, Moldavian SSR) is an amateur Bulgarian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category. Considered as one of Bulgar ...
Gennadiy Laliyev
Gennadiy Laliyev (born March 30, 1979) is a Kazakhstani wrestler who competed in the Men's Freestyle 74 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics representing Kazakhstan and won the silver medal. He also competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in the M ...
2004 Olympic Games
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
Murad Gaidarov
Murad Gaidarov ( be, Мурад Гайдараў, russian: Мурад Гайдаров; born February 13, 1980, in Khasavyurt, Dagestan), also known as Murad Haidarau, is an Avar Russian - Belarusian wrestler. Gaidarov was dis ...
Emzarios Bentinidis
Emzarios Bentinidis (born Emzar Bedineishvili on August 16, 1975 in Tbilisi) is a male freestyle wrestler from Georgia. He represented Georgia at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Greece in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Representing Greece, he also p ...
Arpad Ritter
Arpad or Árpád may refer to:
People
* Árpád (given name), a Hungarian men's name
* Árpád (c. 845–907), first ruler of Hungary
Places
* Arpad, Syria, an ancient city in present-day Syria near Tell Rifaat
* Árpád, the Hungarian name for ...
Murad Gaidarov
Murad Gaidarov ( be, Мурад Гайдараў, russian: Мурад Гайдаров; born February 13, 1980, in Khasavyurt, Dagestan), also known as Murad Haidarau, is an Avar Russian - Belarusian wrestler. Gaidarov was dis ...
2003 World Wrestling Championships
The following is the final results of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships. The Freestyle Competition was held in New York City, United States, while the Greco-Roman Competition was held in Créteil, France.
Medal table
Team ranking
Medal su ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States
, -
, Win
, 28-1
, align=left, Hadi Habibi
, style="font-size:88%", 6-3
, -
, Win
, 27-1
, align=left,
Talgat Ilyasov
Talgat Ilyasov ( kk, Талғат Ілиясов born 25 February 1981) is a Kazakh-Australian wrestler. He competed in the men's 74 kilogram freestyle wrestling competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Ilyasov holds the position of Presiden ...
Nikolay Paslar
Nikolay Ivanovich Paslar ( bg, Николай Иванович Паслар; born June 12, 1980, in Taraclia, Moldavian SSR) is an amateur Bulgarian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category. Considered as one of Bulgar ...
Moon Eui-jae
Moon Eui-Jae (Hangul: 문의제, Hanja: 文儀濟; born February 10, 1975) is a retired South Korean wrestler who won two Olympic silver medals in freestyle wrestling, Men's Freestyle 76 kg at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Men' ...
, style="font-size:88%", 3-2
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, November 22, 2001
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 2001 World Wrestling Championships
, style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5,
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
Revaz Mindorashvili
Revaz Mindorashvili ( ka, რევაზ მინდორაშვილი, born July 1, 1976) is a Georgian wrestler, who has won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games ...
Kunihiko Obata
is a retired amateur Japanese freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category. He achieved top eight finishes in the 74-kg division at the Asian Games (2002 and 2006), scored two bronze medals at the 2001 and 2004 Asian Wre ...
Ruslan Khinchagov
Ruslan Khinchagov (born January 29, 1970, in North Ossetia-Alania) is a former competitor in Freestyle Wrestling from Russia, who represented Uzbekistan. Ruslan competed in the 1996 Olympic Games and 2000 Olympic Games. He finished 15th in 1996 ...
Brandon Slay
Brandon Slay (born October 14, 1975) won an Olympic gold medal for the United States in wrestling. Slay also help found Dallas Dynamite wrestling club in Dallas, TX. Slay currently is the Assistant National Freestyle Coach and National Freestyl ...
2000 Olympic Games
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, -
, Win
, 19-0
, align=left,
Plamen Paskalev
Plamen Paskalev ( bg, Пламен Паскалев) (born July 23, 1975) is a double Olympic Games, Olympian who competed in Freestyle Wrestling for Bulgaria in the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics. He also represented Bulgaria at ...
Moon Eui-jae
Moon Eui-Jae (Hangul: 문의제, Hanja: 文儀濟; born February 10, 1975) is a retired South Korean wrestler who won two Olympic silver medals in freestyle wrestling, Men's Freestyle 76 kg at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Men' ...
, style="font-size:88%", 3-0
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4, September 7, 1998
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4, 1998 World Wrestling Championships
, style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4,
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, -
, Win
, 17-0
, align=left,
Marcin Jurecki
Marcin Jurecki (11 November 1976, in Połczyn-Zdrój – 26 February 2008, in Warsaw) was a Polish Amateur wrestling, wrestler who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He finished in 8th place. He also represented Poland at the Wrestling World Cha ...
, style="font-size:88%", Fall
, -
, Win
, 16-0
, align=left, Alexander Kahniasvili
, style="font-size:88%", Tech. Fall
, -
, Win
, 15-0
, align=left, Victor Peikov
, style="font-size:88%", Tech. Fall
, -
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, -
, Win
, 14-0
, align=left,
Alexander Leipold
Alexander Leipold (born 2 June 1969 in Alzenau in Unterfranken) is a German former freestyle wrestler who won the German Championships eleven times, the European Championships three times, the World Championships in 1994, and won the tournament a ...
, style="font-size:88%", 3-1
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, August 29, 1997
, style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 1997 World Wrestling Championships
, style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5, Krasnojarsk,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, -
, Win
, 13-0
, align=left,
Moon Eui-jae
Moon Eui-Jae (Hangul: 문의제, Hanja: 文儀濟; born February 10, 1975) is a retired South Korean wrestler who won two Olympic silver medals in freestyle wrestling, Men's Freestyle 76 kg at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Men' ...
David Bichinashvili
Davyd Bichinashvili ( ka, დავით ბიჩინაშვილი; born February 3, 1975, in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union) is an amateur Georgian-born German freestyle wrestler, who played for the men's light heavyweight category ...
Arpad Ritter
Arpad or Árpád may refer to:
People
* Árpád (given name), a Hungarian men's name
* Árpád (c. 845–907), first ruler of Hungary
Places
* Arpad, Syria, an ancient city in present-day Syria near Tell Rifaat
* Árpád, the Hungarian name for ...
Park Jang-soon
Park Jang-Soon (; born April 10, 1968) is a retired South Korean freestyle wrestler, world champion and Olympic champion.
Olympics
He received a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.1996 Olympic Games
, style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, United States
, -
, Win
, 8-0
, align=left,
Kenny Monday
Kenny Dale Monday (born November 25, 1961) is an Olympic gold medalist and three-time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State University. He began wrestling at age six at a YMCA after-school program and grew up idolizing Olympic wrestler Wayne ...
Alexander Leipold
Alexander Leipold (born 2 June 1969 in Alzenau in Unterfranken) is a German former freestyle wrestler who won the German Championships eleven times, the European Championships three times, the World Championships in 1994, and won the tournament a ...
Issa Momeni
Issa Momeni ( fa, عیسی مومنی, born 1 January 1968) is a retired Iranian wrestler. He competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the sea ...
Alexander Leipold
Alexander Leipold (born 2 June 1969 in Alzenau in Unterfranken) is a German former freestyle wrestler who won the German Championships eleven times, the European Championships three times, the World Championships in 1994, and won the tournament a ...
1995 World Wrestling Championships
The following is the final results of the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. Men's Freestyle Competition were held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Men's Greco-Roman Competition were held in Prague, Czech Republic and Women's Competition were ...
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, United States
, -
, Win
, 4-0
, align=left, Magomed Salam Gadshiev
, style="font-size:88%", 3-0
, -
, Win
, 3-0
, align=left, Victor Peikov
, style="font-size:88%", 12-3
, -
, Win
, 2-0
, align=left, Krzysztof Walencik
, style="font-size:88%", Fall
, -
, Win
, 1-0
, align=left, Alberto Rodríguez
, style="font-size:88%", Tech. Fall
, -