Oleksandr Valeriyovych Zakharuk ( uk, Олександр Валерійович Захарук; born August 25, 1976 in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

) is a retired amateur Ukrainian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category. Considered one of the world's top freestyle wrestlers in his decade, Zakharuk had claimed five European championship titles, picked up three bronze medals at the World Championships (1999, 2002, and 2003), and achieved top eight finishes in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Throughout his sporting career, Zakharuk trained as a member of the freestyle wrestling team for Ukraina Kyiv Sport Club, under his coach Serhiy Obesnyuk. Zakharuk 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 ...

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, as a top medal contender, in the men's bantamweight category (54 kg), after claiming a bronze from 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. ...

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. During the preliminary pool, Zakharuk pinned neighboring Russia's Leonid Chuchunov on his opening bout, and then eclipsed Bulgaria's Ivan Tsonov with a powerful effort and a 10-point advantage to earn him a spot for the quarterfinals. Followed by the next morning's session, Zakharuk fell behind U.S. wrestler and 1998 world champion

Sammie Henson Samuel "Sammie" Henson (born January 1, 1971) is a World Champion wrestler, winning a gold medal in freestyle for the USA at the 1998 FILA Wrestling World Championships, held in Tehran, Iran. He was also a silver medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympi ...

with a score 4–8, before he sought a chance to fight back in a consolation battle against Kazakhstan's

Maulen Mamyrov Maulen Mamyrov (Маулен Мамыров; born December 14, 1970) is a Kazakhstani wrestler. At the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referr ...

for a fifth-place finish. 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), ...

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, Zakharuk qualified for his second Ukrainian squad, as a 28-year-old, in the men's featherweight class (55 kg) with another brilliant sporting record. After the abolition of the bantamweight division in amateur wrestling that propelled him to fight at least a single kilogram heavier than in 2000, Zakharuk picked up his third career bronze medal in the men's featherweight category at 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 ...

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, which earned him a spot on the Ukrainian Olympic team. He continued to deliver a more stellar performance from Sydney four years earlier by pinning Kazakhstan's Baurzhan Orazgaliyev and overpowering Belarusian wrestler and 2001 world champion

Herman Kantoyeu Herman Stsepanovich Kantoyeu ( be, Герман Сцяпанавіч Кантоеў; born November 27, 1971 in Khabarovsk, Russian SFSR) is a retired amateur Belarusian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category. Conside ...

to seize another shot of an Olympic medal. Fighting against Russia's

Mavlet Batirov Mavlet Alavdinovich Batirov (russian: Мавлет Алавдинович Батиров, born December 12, 1983) is a Russian freestyle wrestler, world and 2-time Olympic champion, who competed in the men's freestyle 55 kg category at the ...

in the quarterfinal match, Zakharuk could not score a single point to push him off the mat, and instead, managed to finish only in seventh at the end of the tournament.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakharuk, Oleksandr 1976 births Living people Olympic wrestlers for Ukraine Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Ukrainian male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kyiv World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Championships medalists