Schoolboy

Wrestling to Participate in 2019 ISF Combat Games with World Level Schoolboy Event

Monday, June 25, 2018 - 15:17 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (June 25) -- United World Wrestling met the International School Sport Federation (ISF) met last week in Györ during the School European Championships in order to speak about the next Combat Games that will be organized by ISF and the Hungarian Sport School Federation.

The event was also an opportunity for the ISF to watch a School-level event as organized by United World Wrestling. With more than 600 athletes the participation showed that the age category is getting more popular.

The meeting was organized June 16 with Mr. Tzeno Tzenov, UWW Vice-President and UWW Europe President; Mr. Tibor Farkas and Peter Bacsa of the Hungarian Wrestling Federation; Mr. Francesco Fiorini, Sports and Development Manager of the ISF; Ms. Eszter Szollos, Events Dpt Manager at the Hungarian School Sport Federation; and Jean-Daniel Rey, UWW Sports Director.

During that meeting, Schoolboys were confirmed as the age category for the next ISF Combat Games. The 10 weight categories per style will be organized in Budapest. This event will be organized in the middle of June and will be composed with four Combat Sports (Judo, Karate, Taekwondo and Wrestling).

This age category was chosen in order to see if there is a big interest around the world as United World Wrestling doesn’t currently organize Schoolboys world-level event.

Mr. Tzenov said that he is very confident for this organization as the Hungarian Wrestling Federation knows how to organize great wrestling event. With a good collaboration between the National Wrestling Federation and the National School Sport Federation, there is no doubt that all sides will enjoy a great event.

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.