Obituary

Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov, First Kazakh to Win Olympic Gold, Dies at 69

Monday, August 3, 2020 - 12:49 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 3) -- Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov, who won Olympic gold for the U.S.S.R  in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Moscow Games in 1980, has died. He was 69.

Ushkempirov was the first ethnic Kazakh to win an Olympic gold in wrestling and became a national star following his performance. To honor his achievements, there is an international Junior Greco-Roman wrestling tournament named "Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov" held annually in the nation of Kazakhstan. He was also inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2014.

In addition to his Olympic gold, Ushkempirov was a 1981 World champion, 1980 European silver medallist, USSR Champion (1975,1980), and Honored Master of Sports of USSR (1980). 

Ushkempirov also received the Labor of Kazakhstan award as well as the honors of "Barys", "Badge of Honor", "Parasat".

Ushkempirov

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Al Awamleh elected UWW Asia president

Monday, March 24, 2025 - 17:15 By United World Wrestling Press

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AMMAN, Jordan (March 23) -- Mohamad AL-AWAMLEH, the president of the Jordan Wrestling Federation, was elected as the president of United World Wrestling Asia at the General Assembly held on the sidelines of the Asian Championships 2025.

The election for new UWW Asia council was held Monday for seven members. 14 nominations were received for the same and 38 national federations participated in the elections.

Four out of the seven are newly elected:

Mohamad AL-AWAMLEH (JOR)
Alireza DABIR (IRI)
Lana KHDOUR (PLE)
Sanjay SINGH (IND)

Three members were re-elected:

Kenneth LEE (KOR)
Melis TURGANBAEV (KGZ)
Ye ZHANG (CHN)

After the elections, the council members elected the president, vice-president and secretary general for UWW Asia.

Al-Awamleh as elected as the president while Dabir was elected as the vice-president of UWW Asia.

Lee, who was the vice-president in the previous term, was elected as the secretary general of UWW Asia for the next four years.