Shaban Trstena ( mk, Шабан Трстена, Šaban Trstena, sq, Shaban Tërstena; born 1 January 1965) is a

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

- Yugoslavian former freestyle wrestler. Trstena was born in Skopje,

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

and is of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

ethnicity. Growing up in Čair, Trstena joined the Liria Wrestling Club and was trained by notable coaches Mentaz Allajbegu and Hajrush Sinani, who had also trained notable wrestlers Shaban Sejdiu, Bajram Qorrolli, Abdulla Mehmeti, Mustaf Syla, Shend Kamberi and Adnan Elezi. Trstena won the gold medal at the

1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

in Los Angeles and also won the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Trstena is currently the youngest to win any wrestling gold at the Olympics, being 19 years of age at the Los Angeles Olympics. He would win in his wrestling carrier the 1984 European Championship and the 1990 European Wrestling Championship in Poznan. Trstena also won gold beating the then World Champion

Valentin Yordanov Valentin Dimitrov Yordanov ( bg, Валентин Димитров Йорданов; born January 26, 1960), also transliterated Jordanov, is a retired Bulgarian freestyle wrestler who competed in the up to 52 kg weight class. He is an Oly ...

. Trstena would then win silver in 1983, 1985, 1986, and the bronze in 1982 and 1988. In the

1982 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1982 World Wrestling Championships. Freestyle competition were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Greco-Roman competition were held in Katowice, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Polan ...

, Trstena reached bronze. During the three times he competed in the Mediterranean or Balkan Games, he won gold in all three. He has been pronounced the Best Macedonian athlete many times and once, in 1984 the best athlete of Yugoslavia. In 2000 he has been also pronounced the best Albanian athlete of the last century. He has won 715 matches out of 741 fights. He participated in 42 tournaments in the world winning 30 gold medals, the remainder being silver and bronze. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 he won the fifth place.

References

1965 births Living people Macedonian people of Albanian descent Sportspeople from Skopje Macedonian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Yugoslavia Olympic wrestlers for North Macedonia Wrestlers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Yugoslav male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in wrestling European champions for Yugoslavia World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1987 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling European Wrestling Championships medalists {{Yugoslavia-Olympic-medalist-stub