Aleksandr Vasilyevich Medved (16 September 1937 – 2 September 2024) was a Ukrainian-born Soviet Belarusian

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

of Russian ethnicity who competed for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and was named "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" by

FILA Fila (; ) is a South Korean-owned athleisure brand headquartered in Seoul. The company was originally founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Italy. Fila Korea acquired the brand in 2007 and launched its initial p ...

, the sport's governing body. Between 1962 and 1972 he won three Olympic gold medals, seven world and three European titles. He served as the Olympic

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

for the Soviet Union in 1972, for Belarus in 2004 and recited the Judge's Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.

Biography

According to Medved, his grandparents came from Russia; his grandmother was ca. 195 cm, and his grandfather was even taller. Medved was smaller, at 190 cm and 100+ kg, yet big enough to fit into his last name, which means ''bear'' in Russian (and with minor variations in Belarusian and Ukrainian languages). Between 1967 and 1972 Medved had a rivalry with Turkish-Bulgarian wrestler

Osman Duraliev Osman Duraliev (; 15 January 1939 – 25 April 2011) was a Bulgarian freestyle wrestler with Turkish origin. Between 1967 and 1972 he won ten silver medals at major international competitions, including the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics. In eig ...

. They met eight times in the finals of major international championships and Medved won on all occasions. He was close to losing at the 1971 World Championships in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, where Duraliev led the match 4:3 with 43 seconds left. Yet Medved equalized the score and won the title because of his lower body weight. After retiring from competitions in 1972 Medved moved to Belarus, where prior he served with the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

in the late 1950s. There he worked as a national coach and lectured at the

Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics The Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, also known as BSUIR (), is a public Higher Education Institution accredited by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus. Nowadays it is a large educational and scie ...

. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union he was appointed as vice-president of the

Belarus Olympic Committee The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (, ) is one of many national Olympic committees that make up the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Created in 1991, the NOC RB (), was charged with selecting athletes to represent Bela ...

and of the Belarus Wrestling Federation. Previously he was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(1964),

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

(1970), and

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

(1964, 1969, 1985). In 2001 he was chosen as the best Belarusian athlete of the 20th century and in 2003 became one of the first 10 inductees to the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is an honored citizen of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, where since 1970s an annual wrestling tournament is held in his honor. Medved was married to Tatyana, they had a daughter Yelena and son Aleksei. Yelena was a Belarusian tennis champion, while Aleksei won a junior world title in wrestling in 1987. Medved died in

on 2 September 2024, at the age of 86.

References

External links

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Biography at Belarusian Olympic Committee
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Medved, Alexander 1937 births 2024 deaths Sportspeople from Bila Tserkva Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Burevestnik (sports society) sportspeople Olympic medalists in wrestling Olympic officials World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Oath takers at the Olympic Games European Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Champions World Wrestling Champions Belarusian male sport wrestlers Soviet male sport wrestlers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Olympic Order Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour 20th-century Belarusian sportsmen