Buvaisar Saitiev

Buvaisar Saitiev
Saitiev in 2021
Personal information
Born (1975-03-11) March 11, 1975 (age 49)
Khasavyurt, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
CountryRussia
SportWrestling
EventFreestyle
ClubMindiashvili wrestling academy
Coached byDmitri Mindiashvili
Retired2008
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Russia
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 - -
World Championships 6 - -
Wrestling World Cup - - 1
European Championships 6 - -
Total 15 0 1
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta 74 kg
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens 74 kg
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing 74 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place Atlanta 1995 74 kg
Gold medal – first place Krasnoyarsk 1997 76 kg
Gold medal – first place Tehran 1998 76 kg
Gold medal – first place Sofia 2001 76 kg
Gold medal – first place New York 2003 74 kg
Gold medal – first place Budapest 2005 74 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place Budapest 1996 74 kg
Gold medal – first place Warsaw 1997 76 kg
Gold medal – first place Bratislava 1998 85 kg
Gold medal – first place Budapest 2000 76 kg
Gold medal – first place Budapest 2001 76 kg
Gold medal – first place Moscow 2006 74 kg
World Cup
Bronze medal – third place Edmonton 1994 74 kg

Buvaisar Hamidovich Saitiev, also spelled Buvaysar Hamidovich Saytiev, (Russian: Бувайсар Хамидович Сайтиев, Chechen: Сайт КIант Бувайса) (born March 11, 1975) is a Russian retired freestyle wrestler of Chechen heritage, who represented Russia, and won nine world-level gold medals in freestyle wrestling (second highest, behind Aleksandr Medved's ten). He is widely considered as the greatest freestyle wrestler of all time.[1][2][3][4] In 2007, Saitiev, alongside Aleksandr Karelin, were voted the best wrestlers in the history of the sport by FILA.[5] He currently is an acting State Duma Deputy from Dagestan.[6][7][8]

Personal life

In 1992, Buvaisar left his hometown of Khasavyurt, Dagestan in order to train at a prestigious wrestling center in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. His younger brother Adam Saitiev would follow in his footsteps.

Soon after graduating from the training center, Saitiev began his quest to represent Russia on the world stage. Buvaisar has been decorated with the Order of Friendship by the Russian president. His younger brother Adam Saitiev, also a wrestler, won gold in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Buvaisar's life philosophy has been heavily influenced by Nobel Prize-winning poet Boris Pasternak. Saitiev repeats Pasternak's poem, "It is not seemly to be famous,[9]" before every match, and according to Buvaisar, the poem has defined his life both inside and outside of wrestling.[10] Saitiev is a practicing Muslim.

Wrestling career

Saitiev has won nine World-level gold medals. He is a six-time World champion and a three-time Olympic champion. His senior level international career began in 1994 and continued on through the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. In thirteen years, he competed in eleven World or Olympic championship tournaments, winning nine gold medals at those events and losing only two bouts. Buvaisar won at the World championships in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2005, and at the Olympics in 1996, 2004 and 2008.

In 1999, Buvaisar did not wrestle at the World championships, instead his weight class was represented by his younger brother Adam Saitiev, who went on to win the gold medal. Saitiev also did not compete at the World Championships in 2002. In 2007, according to media reports, Saitiev's training in was hampered by a neck injury.

Despite his success, Saitiev suffered a number of losses in his senior career. He suffered his first loss in his senior career at the 1994 World Wrestling Cup to Davoud Ghanbari.[11] At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Saitiev lost to Brandon Slay.[12] Saitiev lost to Magomed Isagadzhiev at the 2002 Russian Nationals.[13][14] Saitiev then lost to Mihail Ganev at the 2006 World Wrestling Championships.[15] Saitiev lost at the 2007 Russian Nationals to Makhach Murtazaliev.[16] He then lost at the 2008 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, also to Murtazaliev.[17]

His Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics was his last wrestling competition and the final of his nine total World or Olympic level championships.

Match results

World Championships & Olympics
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2008 Summer Olympics 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 74kg
Win 46-2 Uzbekistan Soslan Tigiev 0–1, 1–0, 3–1 August 12, 2008 2008 Olympic Games China Beijing, China
Win 45-2 Bulgaria Kiril Terziev Fall
Win 44-2 Cuba Ivan Fundora 2-0, 2-1
Win 43-2 Turkey Ahmet Gülhan 1-0, 4-0
Win 42-2 South Korea Cho Byung-kwan 1-0, 7-2
2006 World Championships 8th at 74kg
Loss 41-2 Bulgaria Mihail Ganev 3-0, 2-2, 1-1 September 27, 2006 2006 World Wrestling Championships China Guangzhou, China
Win 41-1 Cuba Ivan Fundora 5-3, 7-2
Win 40-1 Venezuela Maximo Blanco 4-1, 5-0
2005 World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 74kg
Win 39-1 Hungary Arpad Ritter 3-0, 3-1 September 26, 2005 2005 World Wrestling Championships Hungary Budapest, Hungary
Win 38-1 Iran Mehdi Hajizadeh 6-0, 5-3
Win 37-1 Italy Salvatore Rinella 6-1, 5-0
Win 36-1 Hungary Nikolay Paslar 3-0, 3-1
Win 35-1 United Kingdom Malak Mohamed Osman 2-0, 9-0
2004 Summer Olympics 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 74kg
Win 34-1 Kazakhstan Gennadiy Laliyev 7-0 August 26, 2004 2004 Olympic Games Greece Athens, Greece
Win 33-1 Poland Krystian Brzozowski 8-0
Win 32-1 Belarus Murad Gaidarov 3-2
Win 31-1 Greece Emzarios Bentinidis 6-1
Win 30-1 Hungary Arpad Ritter 8-2
2003 World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 74kg
Win 29-1 Belarus Murad Gaidarov 2-2 September 12, 2003 2003 World Wrestling Championships United States New York City, United States
Win 28-1 Iran Hadi Habibi 6-3
Win 27-1 Australia Talgat Ilyasov 9-1
Win 26-1 Bulgaria Nikolay Paslar 4-1
Win 25-1 Senegal Jean Bernard Diatta Tech. Fall
2001 World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 76kg
Win 24-1 South Korea Moon Eui-jae 3-2 November 22, 2001 2001 World Wrestling Championships Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria
Win 23-1 United States Joe Williams 5-4
Win 22-1 Georgia (country) Revaz Mindorashvili 3-2
Win 21-1 Japan Kunihiko Obata 7-0
Win 20-1 Uzbekistan Ruslan Khinchagov 4-3
2000 Summer Olympics 9th at 76kg
Loss 19-1 United States Brandon Slay 3-4 September 28, 2000 2000 Olympic Games Australia Sydney, Australia
Win 19-0 Bulgaria Plamen Paskalev 8-2
1998 World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 76kg
Win 18-0 South Korea Moon Eui-jae 3-0 September 7, 1998 1998 World Wrestling Championships Iran Tehran, Iran
Win 17-0 Poland Marcin Jurecki Fall
Win 16-0 Georgia (country) Alexander Kahniasvili Tech. Fall
Win 15-0 Moldova Victor Peikov Tech. Fall
1997 World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 76kg
Win 14-0 Germany Alexander Leipold 3-1 August 29, 1997 1997 World Wrestling Championships Russia Krasnojarsk, Russia
Win 13-0 South Korea Moon Eui-jae 6-2
Win 12-0 Ukraine David Bichinashvili 7-0
Win 11-0 Hungary Arpad Ritter 6-0
Win 10-0 Canada Nicholas Ugoalah Fall
1996 Summer Olympics 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 74kg
Win 9-0 South Korea Park Jang-soon 5-0 July 30, 1996 1996 Olympic Games United States Atlanta, United States
Win 8-0 United States Kenny Monday 6-1
Win 7-0 Germany Alexander Leipold 3-1
Win 6-0 Iran Issa Momeni 8-0
1995 World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 74kg
Win 5-0 Germany Alexander Leipold 3-2 August 10, 1995 1995 World Wrestling Championships United States Atlanta, United States
Win 4-0 Azerbaijan Magomed Salam Gadshiev 3-0
Win 3-0 Moldova Victor Peikov 12-3
Win 2-0 Poland Krzysztof Walencik Fall
Win 1-0 Cuba Alberto Rodríguez Tech. Fall

References

  1. ^ "Olympics-Russian wrestler Saitiev abandons comeback attempt". Reuters. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  2. ^ R, Coach Mike (27 June 2014). "The greatest wrestler ever, Buvaisar Saitiev, flattens a toddler". SB Nation. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  3. ^ UFC Fight Night 35 fact grinder, SB Nation, Retrieved June 18, 2014
  4. ^ Wyman, Patrick. "Why Are UFC Champions Hanging Out With An Accused Russian War Criminal?". Deadspin. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Karelin and Saitiyev named world's best wrestlers". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  6. ^ "Бувайсар Сайтиев станет депутатом Госдумы от Дагестана". Archived from the original on 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  7. ^ "Рамзан vs Сагид. Почему Абдулатипов провел в Думу Бувайсара, но сломал карьеру Сажида?". Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  8. ^ Админ, Автор (20 September 2016). "Бувайсар Сайтиев прошёл в Госдуму от Дагестана". Годекан (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  9. ^ "It is Not Seemly to be Famous... Poem by Boris Pasternak". 3 April 2010.
  10. ^ The Silent Gladiators, p. 237
  11. ^ "Трижды олимпионик Бувайсар Сайтиев" (in Russian). 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  12. ^ Van Kley, Bryan (2012-07-10). "Gardner and Slay earned stunning upsets over Russians in 2000 Olympics". WIN Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  13. ^ Павлов, Петр (2023-06-15). "Магомед Исагаджиев – тренер сборной Ирана" (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  14. ^ "Сборная Ирана усилилась дагестанцем". Махачкалинские известия (in Russian). 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  15. ^ "Сайтиев не выдержал темпа - Борьба вольная и женская в Красноярске на Redyarsk.Ru". Redyarsk.Ru - весь спорт Красноярска (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  16. ^ "Махач Муртазалиев выиграл у Бувайсара Сайтиева". stadium.ru. 2007. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  17. ^ "Бувайсар Сайтиев проиграл золото!". Комсомольская правда. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2024-10-27.