Obituary

Lee Kun-hee, Former Chairman of Samsung and Friend of Wrestling, Dies at 78

Tuesday, October 27, 2020 - 14:39 By

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A file photo of chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Kun Hee seen with his wife Ra-Hee Hong during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Kun Hee died Sunday at the age of 78.

SEOUL (October 27) -- Lee Kun-hee, who build Samsung into a global powerhouse in the 1980's and 1990's has died at his home in Seoul. An honorary member of the IOC and UWW, Mr. Lee had a longstanding commitment to international sport.

According to the IOC, Mr. Lee's sport of preference was wrestling and was President (and later Honorary President) of the Korean Amateur Wrestling Federation from 1982 to 1997. He was also a member of the Korean Olympic Committee and later became Vice-President (1993-1996) then Honorary President.

United World Wrestling and the global wrestling family send their thoughts to the family, friends, and colleagues of Mr. Lee.

Obituary

Georgia's Nugzari Tsurtsumia, 2019 world champion, dies at 27

Thursday, July 4, 2024 - 10:59 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 3) -- Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), a 2019 world champion, passed away Wednesday at the age of 27 years in his hometown Khobi, Georgia. The young star's death has left United World Wrestling and the entire wrestling community saddened.

The 27-year-old recently competed at the Budapest Ranking Series in June and won a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 55kg weight class, the same weight he has won two silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships. Apart from the five medals at the World Championships, Tsurtsumia also won four at the European Championships -- a silver and three bronzes.

At the age group level, Tsurtsumia accomplished much. He completed the set of medals at the European Championships, winning bronze at the U17 level, gold and two bronzes at the U20 and two golds at the U23 level.

In the age-group World Championships, Tsurtsumia was the U23 world champion in 2018 and a silver and bronze medalist at the U20 level.

His remarkable achievement came in Nursultan at the 2019 World Championships when he rocked the field to become the world champion. He outscored his opponents 34-3 in four bouts to win the gold, Georgia's first at the World Championships in 12 years.

United World Wrestling, Georgian Wrestling Federation and the wrestling community mourns the death of an incredible talent. Their thoughts are with the Tsurtsumia family in their time of grief.