Jigjidiin Mönkhbat (; 1 June 1941 – 9 April 2018) was a

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

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 ...

. Mönkhbat is the undefeated 1968 Olympic vice-champion in the 87 kg. Mönkhbat placed fourth in the middleweight (87 kg) division at the 1966 World Wrestling Championships, having lost the bronze medal match, however, he defeated the reigning three-time World Champion and the strongest 1964 Olympic wrestler Mansour Mehdizadeh of

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 ...

in the first match. At the 1967 World Wrestling Championships Mönkhbat held a bronze medal after defeating Majid Aghili of

. At the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

he won the silver medal in the men's Freestyle Middleweight category (87 kg), behind gold medalist Boris Michail Gurevich of the Soviet Union and ahead of bronze medalist Prodan Gardzhev of Bulgaria. However, Mönkhbat left the tournament as undefeated wrestler, his results in the Olympics were 4 wins, 2 draws, and 0 losses: Mönkhbat was a State Grand Champion in bökh, a top rank in the sport, with six

Naadam Naadam (Mongolian Naadam Festival) (, classical Mongolian: ''Naɣadum'', , ''literally "games"'') is a traditional festival celebrated in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Tuva. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (), "the three ...

championship wins (1963–1967, 1974). His name Mönkhbat means "Eternal firm" in the

Mongolian language Mongolian is the Prestige (sociolinguistics), principal language of the Mongolic languages, Mongolic language family that originated in the Mongolian Plateau. It is spoken by ethnic Mongols and other closely related Mongolic peoples who are nati ...

. Mönkhbat was the father of professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler

Hakuhō Shō ) is a Mongols, Mongolian-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler (''rikishi'') from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Making his debut in March 2001, he reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in May 2004. In May 2007 at age 22, he became the secon ...

, who held the top rank of ''yokozuna'' in that sport before retiring. His son Hakuhō regards his six Nadaam championships as the equivalent of 36 tournament championships in sumo (as sumo tournaments are held six times a year) and used that as motivation to keep going even after passing Taihō's record of 32 championships.

Bökh career record

Legacy

In bökh, Mönkhbat won five consecutive tournaments, a feat matched by only two other athletes in the modern history of the sport since 1922. Mönkhbat's statue was erected in his honor and in celebration of his achievements on July 21, 2021, in his hometown of Erdenesant, Tuv Province, Mongolia. The event also marked the 100th anniversary of Erdensant sum. His student and fellow State Grand Champion Gelegjamtsyn Ösökhbayar attended the opening ceremony.

References

External links

* 1941 births 2018 deaths People from Töv Province Olympic wrestlers for Mongolia Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Mongolian male sport wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for Mongolia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 1974 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Mongolia World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games 20th-century Mongolian sportsmen {{Mongolia-wrestling-bio-stub