#WrestleBudapest

#WrestleBudapest Day Four Finals Preview Show

Thursday, March 31, 2022 - 11:57 By Eric Olanowski

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Freestyle wrestling is in the rearview, which means we’ll crown women’s wrestling champions tonight at 50kg, 55kg, 59kg 68kg and 76kg.

In the 50kg finals, you’ll see European champion Miglena SELISHKA ?? and world bronze medalist Evin DEMIRHAN ??.

At 55kg, Ukraine’s 19-year-old star Oleksandra KHOMENETS ?? will square off against reigning U23 world and European champion Andreea ANA ??

Anastasia NICHITA ?? is looking for her eighth European title across all age-grou[s and second on the senior level. She’ll compete against Jowita WRZESIEN ?? in the 59kg finals.

You’ll see the reigning world and European champion IrinIrina RINGACI ?? wrestle Pauline LECARPENTIER ?? of France in the 68kg gold-medal bout.

We’ll close out the night with the premier match of the night as Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Yasemin ADAR ?? will look to add a fifth European gold to her resume. She’ll wrestle Estonia’s reigning European champion Epp MAE ?? for gold at 76kg.

Tonight’s finals begin at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.uww.org.

Thursday Night’s Finals:
50kg: Miglena SELISHKA ?? vs. Evin DEMIRHAN ??
55kg: Oleksandra KHOMENETS ?? vs. Andreea ANA ??
59kg: Anastasia NICHITA ?? vs. Jowita WRZESIEN ??
69kg: Irina RINGACI ?? vs. Pauline LECARPENTIER ??
76kg: Yasemin ADAR ?? vs. Epp MAE ??

Saitiev, three-time Olympic champion, passes away aged 49

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 17:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- Wrestling legend, three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion Buvaisar SAITIEV passed away Sunday. He was 49 years old and nine days short of his 50th birthday.

Saitiev was buried in the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan on Tuesday, March 4.

Saitiev, widely considered the best Freestyle wrestler of all time, was born in Dagestan but moved to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia to train at the Mindiashvili wrestling academy under the legendary coach Dmitri Mindiashvili.

The 49-year-old announced his retirement soon after winning his third Olympic title in Beijing 2008. His other two titles came in 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, Brandon SLAY (USA) defeated him.

Apart from the world and Olympic titles, Saitiev was six-time European champion.

 

United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC expressed his shock on the untimely passing of Saitiev.

"The wrestling family is in shock with the passing of Saitiev," Lalovic said. "He was a legend of the sport and we lost him at a very young age of 49. Saitiev inspired wrestlers around the world and many took up the sport because of him. It's an unrepairable loss to the wrestling community and we are with the Saitiev family during this time of grief."

In 2007, Saitiev was awarded as the best Freestyle wrestler in history by UWW [then FILA].

Wrestling majorly in the 74kg weight class, Saitiev stood at 183 centimetres and made his World Championships debut in Atlanta, 1995. A year later, he won the gold medal at 74kg at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He became world champion in 1997 and 1998 but did not participate in 1999. He lost to Slay in early rounds of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and finished ninth.

But he captured the gold medals again at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and returned to the top at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He became the world champion in 2005 and 2006 and claimed his third Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.