Obituary

Legendary Coach Pedro Val Bragueira of Cuba, Dies at 65

Thursday, August 9, 2018 - 16:05 By United World Wrestling Press

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HAVANA, Cuba (July 31) – Cuba’s longtime head Greco-Roman wrestling coach Pedro Val Bragueiradied last Friday after a long illness. He was 65.

Pedro Val was the head of the Greco-Roman national team between 1975 and 2015 and was the personal coach to many of Cuba’s wrestling legends, including three-time Olympic champion Mijaín LOPEZ, two-time Olympic champion Filiberto AZCUY, and 1992 Olympic champion Héctor MILIÁN. 

In 2010 Pedro Val was distinguished as the best coach in the world by United World Wrestling.

“He was like a father on the mat and outside of the mat,” said López. “It won’t feel the same going to train every day knowing that he is no longer with us.”

Pedro Val started studying to become a wrestling Instructor in 1966, after being admitted to the Escuela Superior de Educación Física Comandante Manuel Fajardo. After two years later -- and at a very young age -- he took up his first coaching position in the town of Colimar. 

In 1975, on the basis of his results, he received the title of Profesor de Educación Física y Deporte, awarded by the ESEF Cmdt. Manuel Fajardo. He would later progressed to a Licenciado and Master degrees.

Pedro Val’s coaching career at the national level started in 1971, when he was appointed as head of the Greco-Roman national Junior team. He held this position until 1974, obtaining great results at the international level, and in 1975 he was promoted to head of the Senior team. 

During his 40-year tenure on the mat he excelled in his job, laying the technical and organizational groundwork to establish the excellence of Cuban Greco-Roman wrestling at the continental and world levels and leaving an inestimable heritage that transcends national boundaries. 

Pedro Val will be deeply missed by the wrestling community across the world.

 

#WrestleZagreb

Tazhudinov in search for answers despite bronze medal

Thursday, September 18, 2025 - 08:45 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- A World Championships medal might be a career milestone for most wrestlers, but for Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), the bronze he won in Zagreb is a prize he hopes to forget.

Coming into the tournament in Zagreb, Tazhudinov was considered as the best wrestler in the world and the favorite to win the gold medal at the 97kg. He had built a reputation of a wrestler who bulldozes anyone who stands in his path, as he did to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But Tazhudinov was anything but an Olympic and world champion in Zagreb.

He almost dropped his quarterfinal match with Mogomed KURBANOV (UWW), needing a front headlock roll to survive. The thrill of victory was short lived, as Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) showed that Tazhudinov is indeed human, winning their semifinal 5-2 to end Tazhudinov's golden run.

"My initial goal was the gold medal," Tazhudinov said. "I wanted to become a two-time world champion. Unfortunately, it didn't happen -- maybe it was meant to be this way. It's very painful to lose."

As he searched for answers for his performance, Tazhudinov said that recent shoulder surgery may have affected his wrestling at the World Championships.

"I was coming back after surgery, after a serious injury," Tazhudinov said. "Maybe that had an effect, I don't even know. It took me a very long time to get myself together. At the beginning, training sessions were very difficult."

Tazhudinov returned from surgery to win two gold medals in a one-month span -- first at the Spain Grand Prix and then at the Budapest Ranking Series in June.

After the semifinal loss to Azarpira, Tazhudinov returned the next night for the bronze-medal bout with 34-year-old Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL), which only further put Tazhudinov under the scanner despite winning the match.

Magamaev was on the activity clock when he bodylocked Tazhudinov and slammed him for four points just before the 30 seconds elapsed. Tazhudinov rebounded with a takedown to make it 4-2 at the break.

He began the second period with another takedown to make it 4-4, but Magamaev continued the scramble and both wrestlers were awarded two exposure points each, putting the Bulgarian ahead 6-6 on criteria.

A counter lift to exposure gave Tazhudinov the lead for the first time, 8-6, and as Magamaev tried doing the counter lift, he gave up two as Tazhudinov blocked him. The final scramble, which gave Tazhudinov an 11-10 win, was challenged by Bulgaria. Eventually, it was scored 13-10.

Despite winning the bout, Tazhudinov shook his head as he left the mat, perhaps surprised himself by his lackluster performance.

"Honestly, I don't even know what went wrong," he said. "It means I wasn't well enough prepared. It means I wasn't in my best shape. It means I need to work even more."

Tazhudinov said he had difficulty preparing mentally for the bronze-medal bout after the loss to Azarpira.

"After the semifinal loss, I couldn't motivate myself at all for the bronze-medal match," he said. "I don't even know how I stepped onto the mat. I wasn't mentally ready to wrestle at all, and that's why the match was so difficult.

"But I will not give up -- I'll go home, work on my mistakes, and train even harder to come back stronger."