Freestyle representative 25-year-old Abasgadzhi Magomedov on Sunday won the first medal for the Russian team at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade. On the way to the final, the native of Dagestan crushed all his opponents in the weight category up to 61 kilograms, but in the last seconds of the final fight with a score of 9:10 he lost to his opponent from the USA Vitaly Orudzhev, the son of the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, two-time world champion Vugar Orudzhev.
Seconds from gold Two years ago, Magomedov won a similar tournament in Oslo. In 2022, the Russians, due to sanctions imposed by the leadership of the United World of Wrestling (UWW), were suspended from participating in the world championship, also held in the capital of Serbia.
What adds particular value to Magomedov’s success is that domestic athletes, due to a long absence from the international arena, sharply sank in the rankings and in Belgrade began performances from the earliest stage – the qualifying stage.
On Saturday, Magomedov ahead of schedule defeated Nikolai Okhlopkov, who plays for the Romanian national team (with a score of 10:0), Chinese Wei Li (10:0), Ukrainian Valentin Blesetsky (16:4 and touch) and in the semifinals – Georgian Shota Fartenadze (10 :0). And on September 17, he was seconds away from his second gold, but Orudzhev turned out to be luckier.
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“Abasgadzhi is a very experienced guy and, most importantly, he lives the way a real athlete should live. This silver medal is worth any gold one. I’m sure that he and his coach set the goal of becoming first, but it’s okay, he fought with dignity. I can only congratulate him and wish him success in the future. We know Magomedov’s character, I’m sure his brightest victories are still ahead. And in general, the guys are great, they have hardly seen a big carpet for two years. Our wrestlers performed under enormous pressure and coped with it,” emphasized Mikhail Mamiashvili, President of the Russian Wrestling Federation, in a conversation with him.
Step by step, the head coach of the Dagestan freestyle wrestling team, Gadzhi Rashidov, highly appreciated Orujov’s level. “Vitaly is a very inconvenient opponent, thin, tall, tough and fast, who wants to prove a lot at the World Championships,” the specialist noted. “At one time, his father Vugar and I were in the same team, and yesterday we met and talked. It was very difficult fight.”
Two years ago, at the World Championships in Norway, Magomedov, a graduate of the Khasavyurt Olympic Reserve School, also won early victories on his way to the finals – over rivals from Turkey, Mongolia and Japan. And in the decisive battle he declassed the enemy from the USA – Dayton Fix was defeated with a score of 4:1.
Avar Magomedov was born in the village of Tissi, Tsumadinsky district of multinational Dagestan. And he gradually made his way into the world elite at various ages: at the age of 17 he won silver at the world championship among cadets, at 20 he won the junior world championship, and at 21 he won the European championship among athletes under 23 years of age. The transition to the adult level passed without serious problems; at the age of 22, Abasgadzhi became the champion of Russia for the first time, and this year he brought the number of victories at the national championships to four in a row.
“Abasgadzhi achieves success primarily through discipline, perseverance, stability and love for his work,” said the athlete’s personal trainer Abakar Abasgadzhiev. “He is a very kind person, but on the mat he changes and does not want to give even a point to anyone. And he does not miss not a single workout. When his leg hurts, Abasgadzhi works in the gym with rubber, and when his hands are running, he runs. The wrestler really loves what he does. Since childhood, he wanted to win the Olympic Games and is confidently going towards this,” the specialist emphasized.
The head coach of the Dagestan national team highlighted Magomedov’s enormous hard work and constant desire to win.
“”He is a very purposeful person, he never stops at what he has achieved and continues to work. I can give an example: last year he got married, and already on the second day after the wedding he was at training. This distinguishes him from others, he does not want and cannot rest. That’s why the results are obvious,” added Rashidov.
A distinctive feature of Magomedov is his attacking style of fighting; he does not rely on maintaining the gained advantage.
“Magomedov does not miss a single tournament and is always ready for any competitions and matches,” the agency’s interlocutor continued. “Abasgadzhi is an attacking athlete, he does not stand still, moves and looks for opportunities to attack. He does not save points, like some, if he leads in the score, but always aims to bring the fight to a logical victory. And he wins almost all fights ahead of schedule, with a score of 10:0.”
Olympic choiceThe category up to 61 kg is non-Olympic, so now Magomedov has a choice – which one to move to in order to bring him closer dream. Either increase the weight to 65 kg, or drop to 57. In the smallest weight category, the clear leader of the Russian team is the winner of the Tokyo Olympics and world champion Zaur Uguev.
Abasgadzhi is hardly afraid of competition, but, apparently, the transition into a heavier category may be the preferable solution.
Yes, there are many strong Russian wrestlers in it – the bronze medalist of the Tokyo Games Gadzhimurad Rashidov, and the 2021 world champion Zagir Shakhiev, and Shamil Mamedov, who is preparing to compete in Serbia, and quite a few other ambitious athletes.
But Abasgadzhi Magomedov in Belgrade again showed that he is rightfully capable of being the first. And now there are not many steps left to take until the childhood dream comes true.
