Damir Zakhartdinov ( uz, Дамир Захартдинов; born January 2, 1976, in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

) is a retired amateur Uzbek freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's lightweight category. Considering one of the nation's top wrestlers in his decade, Zakhartdinov has yielded a staggering record of six career medals, including a bronze in the 58-kg division at the

1999 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1999 World Wrestling Championships. Men's Freestyle competition were held in Ankara, Turkey. Men's Greco-Roman competition were held in Athens, Greece and Women's competition were held in Boden, Sweden. ...

Ankara, Turkey Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, makin ...

, and seized an opportunity to represent

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

in three editions of the Olympic Games (1996, 2000, and 2004). Having served as a soldier in CSKA Tashkent, Zakhartdinov trained throughout his sporting career as a member of its wrestling team under head coach Mamur Ruziev. Zakhartdinov made his official debut at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

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 ...

, where he competed in the men's bantamweight class (57 kg). Being successful early in the opening rounds, he entered the third round undefeated, but fell to Canada's

Guivi Sissaouri Guivi "Gia" Sissaouri ( ka, გივი სისაური, tr, born April 15, 1971) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler who lives and works in Canada. Biography Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Sissaouri began wrestling at age ten. Sissaouri won the ...

with a 0–8 verdict. He lost again to Iran's

Mohammad Talaei Mohammad Talaei ( fa, محمد طلایی, born April 7, 1973, in Isfahan) is an Iranian retired wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedown ...

in the repechage 2–4, and subsequently, to Belarus' Aleksandr Guzov in the final playoff by a rigid 3–2 verdict, dropping him to eighth place. Determined to return to the Olympic scene, Zakhartdinov entered 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 ...

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 ...

as a top medal contender in the men's featherweight division (58 kg). Earlier in the process, he picked up a bronze over Armenia's

Martin Berberyan Martin Berberyan ( hy, Մարտին Բերբերյան, born on 22 May 1980) is a retired Armenian Freestyle wrestler. He is an Armenian Champion, European Champion, World medalist and three-time Olympian. Berberyan was awarded the Master of Spor ...

at the

. During the preliminary competition, Zakhartdinov lost his opening match 4–1 to Russia's

Murad Ramazanov Murad Ramazanov may refer to: * Murad Ramazanov (wrestler) Murad Ramazanov (born March 19, 1974, in Khasavyurt, Dagestan) is a male freestyle wrestler who represented the Republic of Macedonia. He participated in Men's freestyle 60 kg at 2008 Sum ...

, but bounced back to subdue Turkey's

Harun Doğan Harun Doğan (1 January 1976 in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey) is a Turkish retired World and European champion sports wrestler competing in the -58 kg division of men's freestyle wrestling. He was coached by Avni Tarhan. In 2005 he was banned fro ...

(3–0) and pin Moldova's Octavian Cuciuc with only thirty seconds left. Zakhartdinov placed first during the preliminary competition based on technical points, reached the semifinals, but fell behind Ukraine's Yevhen Buslovych in overtime with a 2–0 decision. Zakhartdinov faced U.S. wrestler

Terry Brands Terry Brands (born April 9, 1968) is an American Olympic wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, after losing the semi-final match to the Iranian wrestler, Alireza Dabir. While wrestling at the University of Iowa, Brands wo ...

in the bronze medal match, but could not throw him down the mat and missed the podium by a single point to close the record 3–2, finishing only in fourth place. At the

2004 Summer Olympics 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 ...

, Zakhartdinov qualified for his third Uzbek squad, as a 28-year-old, in the men's 60 kg class. Weighing at two kilograms heavier than the previous Games, Zakhartdinov received a berth and rounded out the ninth spot in the lightweight category from the

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 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He started the preliminary competition with a surprising 3–2 victory over Japan's

Kenji Inoue (born November 5, 1976 in Kyoto) is a Japanese wrestler who won the bronze medal in the Men's Freestyle 60 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Awards *''Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also ...

, before being overwhelmed by Austria's

Lubos Cikel Ľuboš Čikel (born 4 December 1975 in Trenčín, Czechoslovakia) is a retired amateur Austrian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's lightweight category. He finished ninth in the 60-kg division at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships ...

in a 5–6 verdict and South Korea's

Jung Young-ho Jung Young-Ho (born July 13, 1982) is a male freestyle wrestler from South Korea. He participated in the men's freestyle 66 kg at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated in the 1/8 of final losing against Serafim Barzakov. He also partic ...

on a marvelous technical fall. Placing last in the preliminary competition and ninth overall, Zakhartdinov failed to advance to the quarterfinals. Zakhartdinov also competed in two editions of the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(2002 and 2006), but fell behind the medal podium. Shortly after his sporting career ended in 2006, he moved to the

to work with Rod Gaddy and coach young wrestlers for the Alabama State Wrestling Team in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakhartdinov, Damir 1976 births Living people Olympic wrestlers for Uzbekistan Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Uzbekistani male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2002 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2006 Asian Games Sportspeople from Tashkent World Wrestling Championships medalists Asian Games competitors for Uzbekistan Asian Wrestling Championships medalists