#UWWLIVE

UWW LIVE: Almat Kebispayev (KAZ), Four-Time World Medalist

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 17:26 By United World Wrestling Press

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Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) has won four world medals in Greco-Roman wrestling since 2010. Last year, Kebispayev claimed a bronze medal at 61kg in his home country of Kazakhstan at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan. Kebispayev has also won four medals at the Asian Championships, including gold medals in 2011 and 2018. He was a silver medalist at the 2018 Asian Games.

Kebispayev joined Eric Olanowski to talk about winning a world medal in his home country, joining his Kazakh teammates for their first training camp since the pandemic hit, and made the announcement that he's moving up to 67kg for a run at a third Olympic appearance.
 

Obituary

Olympic champion Mustafa Dagistanli passes away

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 - 15:11 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (September 20) -- Two-time Olympic champion and member of the United Wrestling Hall of Fame Mustafa DAGESTANLI (TUR) passed away on Monday. He was 91 years old.

Born in 1931 in Soguroinar village of Carsamba, Turkey, Dagistanli won gold medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. He was also a three-time world champion with gold medals in 1954, 1957 and 1959.

In the 1956 Melbourne Games, Dagistanli won gold in the 56kg weight class. Four years later in Rome, he jumped up to 62kg and finished on the top of the podium.

Dagistanli made his debut for Turkey in 1953 but quickly became one of the most dominant wrestlers in the world and won the first world title in Tokyo in 1954.
 
In his 320 recorded bouts in Turkey, Dagistanli won 319 out of 320 bouts and 70 out of 73 at the international level. The achievement puts him among the best wrestlers walking on the planet during his active days.

After his retirement, he worked as a coach and was part of the Turkish Wrestling Federation. He also served in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as the Samsun Deputy of the Justice Party for two terms between 1973-1980 and received the State Distinguished Service Medal.