Abdulrashid Sadulaev

Abdulrashid Bulachevich Sadulaev (Абдулрашид Булачевич Садулаев; born 9 May 1996) is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 97 kilograms and formerly competed at 86 kilograms.

Sadulaev is widely regarded as the most dominant active freestyle wrestler in the world.

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.

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.

As a result, Ingushetian president Yunus-bek Yevkurov bestowed him a Toyota Land Cruiser 200.

At the World Championships, Sadulaev participated in the 97 kg weight category.

En route he defeated Reineris Salas, Mateusz Filipczak, Elizbar Odikadze and Georgy Ketoyev.

In the final he lost to Kyle Snyder in a close match.

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.

Sadulaev is a graduate of the faculty of Law at Dagestan State University.

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.

At the 2013 Memorial Heydar Aliyev, he lost by technical fall to Gamzat Osmanov.

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.

On 8 May 2015, Sadulaev won the Russian Freestyle Wrestling Nationals again and took part in the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, and World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the Games he outscored four opponents 42–1 (4–0) by technical fall and won gold medal.

On 11 September 2015, he won World Championships, in the final knocking down Koloi Kartoev (Selim Yaşar) of Turkey, overall scoring 47–2 (6–0) in the championships.

As a result, he was given a Mercedes-Benz G-Class G63 and Toyota Land Cruiser 200 by Dagestani business magnate Gadzhiev brothers and Ziyavudin Magomedov.

Sadulaev faced on 7 November wrestlers from Belarus, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Poland at the European Nations Cup (Alrosa Cup).

He beat number one Georgian wrestler Elizbar Odikadze via technical fall (11–0).

Nicknamed the "Russian Tank," he is a two time Olympic gold medalist (2016, 2020), a five–time World Champion (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021), the Individual World Cup champion (2020), a four–time European Continental Champion (2014, 2018, 2019, 2020), Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix winner (2014, 2018) a two-time European Games Champion (2015, 2019) and a two–time Cadet World Champion (2012, 2013).

On 29 January, Sadulaev was expected to participate at the international tournament Golden Grand-Prix Ivan Yarygin 2016, but he pulled out in late January citing a minor shoulder injury.

Sadulaev returned to wrestling in the U23 European Championships in Ruse, Bulgaria on 3 April, and then he participated at the Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial XXV on 18 June 2016.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sadulaev was also greeted as a national hero in his native Dagestan.

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.