Ildar Shavkatovich Hafizov (; ; born January 30, 1988) is an Uzbekistani-American

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

wrestler of

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

heritage, who competes in the featherweight category (60 kg). 2011 Asian and 2021 Pan American Championships runner-up,

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

gold medalist.

Background

Hafizov was born in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

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 ...

into a Tatar family. He started wrestling at the age of ten.

Sport career

Hafizov competed for the Uzbek wrestling squad in the men's 55 kg class at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He lost the first prelims match to Russia's

Nazyr Mankiev Nazyr Yunuzovich Mankiev () (born January 27, 1985, in Surkhakhi, Ingushetia, Soviet Union) is an Ingush wrestler who won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. Resident of Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest typ ...

, who was able to score three points each in two straight periods, leaving Hafizov with a single point. Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Hafizov offered another shot for the bronze medal by entering the repechage bouts. He was defeated by Serbia's

Kristijan Fris Kristijan Fris ( sr-cyrl, Кристијан Фрис, ; born 21 April 1984 in Senta, Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian sport wrestler. He won a bronze meda ...

in the first round, with a technical score of 1–5. Before his change of domicile to the United States in 2014, Hafizov represented his native

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

and has picked up the bronze medal at the 2007 Asian Wrestling Championships and the silver medal in his respective division at the

2011 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2011 Asian Wrestling Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The event took place from May 19 to May 22, 2011. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Participating nati ...

, coincidentally in his home city Tashkent, losing out to Kyrgyzstan's Arsen Eraliev. In May 2015, Hafizov enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. At the 2017 U.S. Open Championships, he won a gold medal at 59 kg categories. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

Hafizov earned a bronze medal at 60 kg. He has qualified to represent the United States at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. In 2021, he won a silver medal at the Pan American Championships. At the

he earned the gold medal. In 2024, he competed at the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico hoping to qualify for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, France. He was eliminated in his first match. In November 2024, he was the finalist at the World Military Championships in Yerevan, Armenia. Hafizov is a 4x World team member (2017, 2019 2022 and 2023).

Personal life

He is of Tatar ethnicity. Ildar has two daughters, his wife Dina Hafizova is a former freestyle wrestler. He is currently a sergeant of the

U.S. army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. Along with serving as a motor vehicle operator within the U.S. Army, he is also a member of the

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) is a military unit whose primary mission is to support nationally and internationally ranked soldiers in participating on the U.S. Olympic team. The program is headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorad ...

References

External links

NBC 2008 Olympics profileArmy WCAP profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hafizov, Ildar 1988 births Living people Uzbekistani male sport wrestlers American Muslims American people of Tatar descent American military Olympians Olympic wrestlers for Uzbekistan Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2010 Asian Games Uzbekistani emigrants to the United States Uzbekistani people of Tatar descent Tatar sportspeople Uzbekistani Muslims Sport wrestlers from Tashkent American male sport wrestlers Asian Games wrestlers for Uzbekistan Wrestlers at the 2019 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in wrestling United States Army non-commissioned officers Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers for the United States 21st-century American sportsmen