Buvaisar Saitiev

Buvaisar Saitiev
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
Medal record
Men's Freestyle Wrestling
Representing  Russia
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 - -
World Championships 6 - -
European Championships 6 - -
Total 15 0 0
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
Updated on 5 September 2014.

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 most, behind Aleksandr Medved's ten). He is widely considered as the greatest freestyle wrestler of all time.[1][2][3][4] He currently is an acting State Duma Deputy from Dagestan.[5][6][7]

Personal life[edit]

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,[8]" before every match, and according to Buvaisar, the poem has defined his life both inside and outside of wrestling.[9]

Wrestling career[edit]

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 won at the Olympics in 1996, 2004 and 2008.

His only two losses at the World or Olympic championships were in 1994, to Iranian wrestler Davoud Ghanbari at the 1994 Wrestling World Cup at the age of 18, and in 2000, to American wrestler Brandon Slay at the 2000 Summer Olympics. 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, after having lost to Magomed Isagadjiev at the 2002 Russian Nationals. Isagadjiev went on the win a silver medal at the World championships. In 2007, Saitiev was beat out for the Russian team by Makhach Murtazaliev, who went on to win the World title. According to media reports, Saitiev's training in 2007 was hampered by a neck injury. 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[edit]

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[edit]

  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. ^ "Бувайсар Сайтиев станет депутатом Госдумы от Дагестана". Archived from the original on 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Админ, Автор (20 September 2016). "Бувайсар Сайтиев прошёл в Госдуму от Дагестана". Годекан (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  8. ^ "It is Not Seemly to be Famous... Poem by Boris Pasternak". 3 April 2010.
  9. ^ The Silent Gladiators, p. 237

External links[edit]