Rashid Garabey oglu Mammadbeyov ( az, Rəşid Məmmədbəyov, russian: Рашид Мамедбеков; 28 February 1927 – 4 December 1970) was an bantamweight freestyle wrestler. He became the first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medalist of Azerbaijani origin when he won the

freestyle wrestling 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 ...

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the

1952 Summer Olympic Games The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Life

Mammadbeyov was coached by Rza Bakhshaliyev, silver medalist of the 1928 All-Union

Spartakiad The Spartakiad (or Spartakiade) was an international sports event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. Five international Spartakiades were held from 1928 to 1937. Later Spartakiads were organized as national sport events of the Eastern Bloc ...

, the first ethnic Azeri in the Soviet Union to carry the title of the master of sport and founder of the school of professional wrestling in Azerbaijan.Aydin Aliyev
Богатырь с львиным сердцем
''Kaspi''. Mammadbeyov debuted in 1947 as part of the Burevestnik team of Baku in the USSR Wrestling Championship held in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, where he was placed second. He participated in 1949 championship which was held in his home town and again finished with a silver medal. In the following years, Mammadbeyov twice took part in the USSR Wrestling Championships, in 1953 and 1954, and once in the 1956 Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in 1956, in all of which he earned silver medals. Mammadbeyov died in 1970, at the age of 43. Since 2009, an annual wrestling tournament is held in Azerbaijan in his memory.Команда Баку победила на турнире по борьбе памяти первого в истории Азербайджана олимпийского призера
day.az (12 November 2009)

1952 Summer Olympics

Azerbaijani athletes began participating in the Olympic Games in 1952, at the same time as all other Soviet athletes, as part of a single team. The wrestling events took place between 20 and 23 July at the Töölö Sports Hall. In his weight category of under 57 kg, Mammadbeyov beat

Mohammad Mehdi Yaghoubi Mohammad Mahdi Yaghoubi ( fa, محمدمهدی یعقوبی; 2 April 1930 – 25 September 2021) was an Iranian bantamweight freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1956. He also won a bronze ...

, bronze medal winner of the

1951 World Wrestling Championships The 1951 World Freestyle Wrestling Championship were held in Helsinki, Finland. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle ReferencesFILA Database {{DEFAULTSORT:1951 Fila Wrestling World Championships World Wrestling Champi ...

in just 32 seconds. Mammadbeyov was declared the winner of the round of 32, as his

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

opponent Paul Hänni did not show up on the ring due to an injury. Mammadbeyov's next match with Bill Borders of the

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 ...

ended in 10 minutes and 40 seconds with Mammadbeyov's flawless victory. By the end of the round of 16, Mammadbeyov was the only athlete in this category without any penalty points. In the quarterfinals, however, he lost to the Hungarian Lajos Bence 2–1, however due to the fact that Bence had had five penalty points, he was disqualified and Mammadbeyov advanced to the semifinals. He beat Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, but lost to

Shohachi Ishii was a Japanese freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was the first Japanese gold medalist after World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world w ...

from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the final, thus earning a silver medal.Rəşid Məmmədbəyov
Sports-reference.com.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mamedbekov, Rashid 1927 births 1970 deaths Soviet male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Azerbaijani male sport wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Sportspeople from Baku Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics