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

UWW Medical Commission Participates in IOC Conference

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 - 13:53 By United World Wrestling Press

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As the year comes to a close, United World Wrestling Medical Commission participated in the International Olympic Committee World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport and made presentations on some of the work of the UWW Medical Commission.

The two-day conference which was held on Sunday and Monday was attended by Dr Shadgan and Dr Molnar. The team put up a presentation on two topics -- Wrestling injuries during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Referees can prevent injuries in wrestling; an experience from the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

The two presentations also found a place in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

At the Tokyo Games, 287 wrestlers participated and only 28 injuries were recorded during 322 bouts, resulting in 9.8 injuries per 100 athletes and 8.7 injuries per 100 bouts. For details, fans can access the full presentation here.

At the two youth events in 2018, 768 junior wrestlers participated in the Youth Olympic Games and Junior World Championships. The injury rate was 4.54 percent and 10.64 percent respectively. Full details of the presentation can be found here.

Dr Shadgan also participated in the International Federation's Medical Commission Chairpersons on November 24. The conference was organized by IOC.

In another step for the safety of the wrestlers, Hungary's Marton Tomin also made a presentation on 'development of wrestling mat materials to achieve better mechanical properties and improve the safety of the athletes.'