Abdulrashid Bulachevich Sadulaev (Russian: Абдулрашид Булачевич Садулаев, IPA:[ɐbdʊɫrɐˈʂɨtssədʊˈɫa(ɪ̯)ɪf]; born 9 May 1996) is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 92 kilograms and formerly at 97 and 86 kilograms.[5] Sadulaev is widely regarded as one of the most dominant active freestyle wrestlers in the world as well as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.[6][7][8]
Sadulaev was born in 1996 in the village of Tsurib, Charodinsky District, Dagestan, Russia. He belongs to the Avar ethnic group, is from a devout Sunni Muslim family, and is the youngest of four siblings. He did not start wrestling seriously until the age of 13, but quickly won a regional title and 300 ₽ ($4.69). After finishing the eleventh grade, he began training in the Gamid Gamidov Wrestling Club in Makhachkala, Dagestan's sports school of Olympic reserve. When he was 16 years old, he won his first World title in the cadet level in 2012. Sadulaev only has two social networking accounts, on Instagram and on VK. He stated that as he has no account on Twitter; other accounts on Twitter that use his identity must be fake.[12]
Sadulaev's senior level debut was at the 2012 XLIII Ali Aliyev Memorial when he was 16 years old. He was defeated in the semifinals by Shamil Kudiyamagomedov, but ended up winning bronze.[14][15][16] At the 2013 Memorial Heydar Aliyev, he lost by technical fall to Gamzat Osmanov.[17] At the 2014 Russian National Championships, Sadulaev defeated Kudiyamagomedov and won his first national title. After the Russian Nationals, he participated at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships, where Sadulaev defeated Reineris Salas of Cuba 11–0 by technical fall.[18]
Sadulaev faced on 7 November wrestlers from Belarus, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Poland at the European Nations Cup (Alrosa Cup).[21] He beat number one Georgian wrestler Elizbar Odikadze via technical fall (11–0).[citation needed]
Sadulaev returned to wrestling in the U23 European Championships in Ruse, Bulgaria on 3 April,[24] and then he participated at the Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial XXV on 18 June 2016.[25] At the European Championships he defeated Stefan Reichmuth of Switzerland in the eightfinals, Hungarian Gergely Gyrits in the quarterfinals, Belarusian Aliaksandr Hushtyn in the semifinals and finally Georgian Irakli Mtsituri; all victories were by technical superiority. On 18 June, Sadulaev won the Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial LII, beating Aleksey Mushtin, teammate Omargadzhi Magomedov, István Veréb of Hungary, Sebastian Jezierzanski and Zbigniew Baranowski, both from Poland, by technical superiority.[26]
Sadulaev competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics without Russian Olympic Trials, that news was announced by the head coach of the Russian freestyle wrestling team Dzhambolat Tedeyev.[27] Sadualev beat István Veréb by technical superiority, then Pedro Ceballos of Venezuela by points, fellow countryman Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan and in the gold medal match Selim Yasar, 5–0.[citation needed]
After Sadulaev's return to Russia, he was greeted by a rowdy welcome victory in Moscow. The Olympic athletes were also given a reception of the Russian medalists in the Kremlin, with the traditional ceremonial meeting being presided by President Vladimir Putin. The champions received BMW luxury crossovers, with the BMW X6 luxury crossovers being awarded for the gold medalists.[28] Sadulaev was also greeted as a national hero in his native Dagestan.[29] Aside from receiving financial reward for his Olympic achievements, Dagestan's Head of the Region Ramazan Abdulatipov presented Sadulaev an Akhal-Teke horse (native to Turkmenistan), which has a reputation for having speed, endurance and intelligence, and is highly valued in Dagestan.[citation needed]
2017: Weight class changes, WC runner-up, European Champion
Sadulaev competed in the Russian Nationals, defeating 2011 European runner-up Vladislav Baitcaev by decision (8–7). Sadulaev became the new Russian national champion in the 97 kg weight category. Before the final match he easily beat Yuri Belonovskiy, Umar Kudliev, Stanislav Gadzhiev and Tamerlan Rasuev by technical superiority.[30] As a result, Ingushetian president Yunus-bek Yevkurov bestowed him a Toyota Land Cruiser 200.[31]
After that he debuted in the weight category 92 kg at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2018. In the final match, he beat 2012 Olympian and countryman Anzor Urishev.[33]
2019: European Games gold medalist and World Championships
Sadulaev won European Games in Minsk, Belarus where he didn't give up a single point. After made world team trials, he repeated the success of last year at the world championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, in the final match he beat Azerbhaijan's Sharif Sharifov by score (4–0). The rematch against USA's Kyle Snyder did not take place due to the loss of the American to Sharif Sharifov in the semifinals.[36]
On October 15, 2022 Sadulaev faced Belarusian Aliaksandr Hushtyn at Poddubny wrestling league 2. He won this match by score (7–0).[39]
2023
On September 18, 2023 he competed at the 2023 World Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. In the quarterfinals, he got a neck injury against his opponent Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain and retired from the championships, being down 2–9 prior to retirement.[40][41] It was only Sadulaev's fourth loss at the senior level, and the first since his loss in the final of the 2017 World Championships to Snyder.[42]
2024
On January 28th 2024, Sadulaev won the Ivan Yarygin cup held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.[43][44] A few months later, he won the Russian Nationals for a sixth time at 97kg.[45] After he was barred from competing at the 2024 Olympics, Sadulaev defeated the 92 kg Russian Nationals champion Alan Bagaev in a special wrestle-off to qualify for the 2024 World Wrestling Championships.[46] There, he won his 6th world title at 92 kilos, defeating World and Olympic champion David Taylor 7-0 and World champion Kamran Ghasempour 5-3. With this victory, he became the second wrestler in history to win world titles in three different weight classes.[47]
Championships and accomplishments
2012 Cadet World Champion – 76 kg
2012 Ali Aliyev Memorial Bronze Medalist – 84 kg
2013 Cadet World Champion – 85 kg
2013 Heydar Aliyev Memorial Bronze Medalist – 84 kg
Master of Sports of International Class (5 August 2015)[56]
Master of Sports of International Class (18 September 2014)[57]
In June 2015, Sadulaev was voted best Russian sportsman of June at the TV project "Golden Pedestal" (on the now-defunct Rossiya 2), earning 55.6% of votes and trumping Aliya Mustafina, who got 44.4% of votes.[58][59]
References
^"Baku 2015". baku2015.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
