Adam Hamidovich Saitiev, also spelled Saytiev, (, born December 12, 1977) is a Russian

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

, who won gold at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

at 85 kg. Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Adam also won the Wrestling World Championships in 1999 and 2002. His elder brother

Buvaisar Saitiev Buvaisar Hamidovich Saitiev (, ; 11 March 1975 – 2 March 2025) was a Russian wrestler and politician. His total of nine world-level gold medals (three Olympics, six World Championships) in freestyle wrestling is second highest, behind Aleksa ...

, also a wrestler, was a three-time Olympic champion and six-time

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

champion.

Wrestling career

Adam started his senior-level international career at 69 kg, or around 152 lbs. He found the weight cut too severe, and soon moved up to 76 kg, where he was world champ in 1999. However, his elder brother Buvaisar also competed in the same weight class, and Adam wanted to compete alongside his brother at the Olympics, not compete against him for a spot on the team. Adam moved up to 85 kg, and despite being undersized, won two world-level titles at the weight. Saitiev competed many times after 2002, but his career was affected by many injuries. Saitiev made a comeback in 2012. He found significant success, but in the Russian freestyle wrestling championships 2012 final match lost to Denis Tsargush (1-0; 1-0).

Awards and honors

Saitiev is a recipient of the Order of Honor (2001) and

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(2004).

Match results

{, class="wikitable collapsible" ! colspan="7", World Championships & Olympic Games Matches , - ! Res. ! Record ! Opponent ! Score ! Date ! Event ! Location , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 21-3 , align=left,

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate ...

, style="font-size:88%", 4-3 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, September 5, 2002 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 2002 World Wrestling Championships , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5,

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, - , Win , 20-3 , align=left, Arkadii Tzopa , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 19-3 , align=left, Marcin Jurecki , style="font-size:88%", 7-3 , - , Win , 18-3 , align=left, Aman Deep , style="font-size:88%", Tech. Fall , - , Win , 17-3 , align=left, Narantsetseg Burenbaatar , style="font-size:88%", Tech. Fall , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 16-3 , align=left,

, style="font-size:88%", Fall , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, September 28, 2000 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5,

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Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, - , Win , 15-3 , align=left, Magomed Ibragimov , style="font-size:88%", 3-0 , - , Win , 14-3 , align=left, Yang Hyung-mo , style="font-size:88%", 5-0 , - , Win , 13-3 , align=left, Igor Praporshchikov , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 12-3 , align=left, Beibulat Musaev , style="font-size:88%", 4-1 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 11-3 , align=left, Alexander Leipold , style="font-size:88%", 6-3 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6, October 7, 1999 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6,

1999 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1999 World Wrestling Championships. Men's Freestyle competition were held in Ankara, Turkey. Men's Greco-Roman competition were held in Piraeus, Greece and Women's competition were held in Boden, Sweden. ...

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Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, - , Win , 10-3 , align=left, Joe Williams , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 9-3 , align=left, Alik Musaev , style="font-size:88%", 4-0 , - , Win , 8-3 , align=left, Arpad Ritter , style="font-size:88%", 11-3 , - , Win , 7-3 , align=left, Radoslaw Horbik , style="font-size:88%", 9-0 , - , Win , 6-3 , align=left, Ruslan Khinchagov , style="font-size:88%", 7-1 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Loss , 5-3 , align=left, Davoud Ghanbari , style="font-size:88%", Inj. Def. , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=8, August 29, 1997 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=8, 1997 World Wrestling Championships , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=8,

Krasnojarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, - , Loss , 5-2 , align=left, Zaza Zazirov , style="font-size:88%", 2-4 , - , Win , 5-1 , align=left, Yüksel Şanlı , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 4-1 , align=left, Almazbek Askarov , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 3-1 , align=left, David Gagishvili , style="font-size:88%", Fall , - , Win , 2-1 , align=left, Elchad Allakhverdiev , style="font-size:88%", 4-2 , - , Loss , 1-1 , align=left, Igor Kupeev , style="font-size:88%", 2-5 , - , Win , 1-0 , align=left, Juan Carlos Rivero , style="font-size:88%", Tech. Fall , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saitiev, Adam 1977 births Living people Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic wrestlers for Russia Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Martial artists from Khasavyurt Sport wrestlers from Dagestan Olympic medalists in wrestling Russian people of Chechen descent World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century Russian sportsmen 21st-century Russian sportsmen