Ildar Hafizov (russian: Ильдар Хафизов; tt-Cyrl, Илдар Хәфиз; born 30 January 1988) is an Uzbek-American

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

wrestler of

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

heritage, who competes in the featherweight category. Before his change of domicile to the United States in 2014, Hafizov represented his native

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 ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics 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 ...

, and has picked up the silver medal in his respective division at the

2011 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2011 Asian Wrestling Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The event took place from May 19 to May 22, 2011. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Participating nati ...

, coincidentally in his home city Tashkent, losing out to Kyrgyzstan's Arsen Eraliev. Hafizov competed for the Uzbek wrestling squad in the men's 55 kg class at the

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 ...

. He lost the first prelims match to Russia's

Nazyr Mankiev Nazyr Yunuzovich Mankiev (russian: Назир Юнузович Манкиев) (born January 27, 1985 in Surkhakhi, Ingushetia, Soviet Union) is an Ingush wrestler who won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. Res ...

, who was able to score three points each in two straight periods, leaving Hafizov with a single point. Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Hafizov offered another shot for the bronze medal by entering the repechage bouts. He was defeated by Serbia's

Kristijan Fris Kristijan Fris ( sr-cyrl, Кристијан Фрис, hu, Frisz Krisztián; born 21 April 1984 in Senta, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian sport wrestler. He won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku. ...

in the first round, with a technical score of 1–5. In May 2015, Hafizov enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He is currently a sergeant. Along with serving as a motor vehicle operator within the U.S. Army, he is also a member of the

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) is a military unit whose primary mission is to support nationally and internationally ranked soldiers in participating on the U.S. Olympic team. The program is headquartered at Fort Carson, Colora ...

. At U.S. Open 2017 he won a gold medal at 59 kg categories. He has qualified to represent the United States 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 ...

. 3x World team member (2017, 2019 and 2022).

References

External links

NBC 2008 Olympics profile
* 1988 births Living people Uzbekistani male sport wrestlers American Muslims American people of Tatar descent American military Olympians Olympic wrestlers for Uzbekistan Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2010 Asian Games Uzbekistani emigrants to the United States Uzbekistani people of Tatar descent Tatar sportspeople Uzbekistani Muslims Sportspeople from Tashkent American male sport wrestlers Asian Games competitors for Uzbekistan Wrestlers at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games United States Army non-commissioned officers Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers for the United States {{US-wrestling-bio-stub