Rashid Garabey oglu Mammadbeyov (, ; 28 February 1927 – 4 December 1970) was a bantamweight freestyle wrestler. He became the first
Olympic
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* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
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medalist of
Azerbaijani origin when he won the
freestyle wrestling
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 ...
silver medal
A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...
at the
1952 Summer Olympic Games.
[
]
Life
Mammadbeyov was coached by Rza Bakhshaliyev, silver medalist of the 1928 All-Union Spartakiad
The Spartakiad (or Spartakiade) was an international sports event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. Five international Spartakiades were held from 1928 to 1937. Later Spartakiads were organized as national sport events of the Eastern Bloc ...
, the first ethnic Azeri in the Soviet Union to carry the title of the master of sport and founder of the school of professional wrestling in Azerbaijan.[Aydin Aliyev]
Богатырь с львиным сердцем
''Kaspi''.
Mammadbeyov debuted in 1947 as part of the Burevestnik team of Baku in the USSR Wrestling Championship held in Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
, where he was placed second. He participated in 1949 championship which was held in his hometown and again finished with a silver medal. In the following years, Mammadbeyov twice took part in the USSR Wrestling Championships, in 1953 and 1954, and once in the 1956 Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in 1956, in all of which he earned silver medals.
Mammadbeyov died in 1970, at the age of 43. Since 2009, an annual wrestling tournament has been held in Azerbaijan in his memory.Команда Баку победила на турнире по борьбе памяти первого в истории Азербайджана олимпийского призера
day.az (12 November 2009)
1952 Summer Olympics
Azerbaijani athletes began participating in the Olympic Games in 1952, at the same time as all other Soviet athletes, as part of a single team. The wrestling events took place between 20 and 23 July at the
Töölö Sports Hall
Töölö Sports Hall (, ) is a sports venue located in the Töölö district of Helsinki, Finland. It was designed by Aarne Hytönen and Risto-Veikko Luukkonen and built in 1935 as Messuhalli (Exhibition Hall). It is located near the Olympic St ...
. In his weight category of under 57 kg, Mammadbeyov beat
Mohammad Mehdi Yaghoubi
Mohammad Mahdi Yaghoubi (; 2 April 1930 – 25 September 2021) was an Iranian bantamweight freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1956 in his weight category of under 57 kg. He also won a br ...
of Iran, bronze medal winner of the
1951 World Wrestling Championships
The 1951 World Freestyle Wrestling Championship were held in Helsinki, Finland from 26 to 29 April 1951. That was the first ever World Championships in freestyle wrestling.
Medal table
Team ranking
Medal summary
References
External lin ...
, in just 32 seconds. Mammadbeyov was declared the winner of the round of 32, as his
Swiss
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opponent Paul Hänni did not show up on the ring due to an injury. Mammadbeyov's next match with Bill Borders of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
ended in 10 minutes and 40 seconds with Mammadbeyov's flawless victory. By the end of the round of 16, Mammadbeyov was the only athlete in this category without any penalty points. In the quarterfinals, however, he lost to the
Hungarian Lajos Bence 2–1, however due to the fact that Bence had five penalty points, he was disqualified and Mammadbeyov advanced to the semifinals. He beat
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (15 January 1925 – 14 August 1984) was an Indian freestyle wrestler. He is best known for winning a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was the first athlete from independent India to win an indi ...
from
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, but lost to
Shohachi Ishii
was a Japanese freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was the first Japanese gold medalist after World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a Worl ...
from
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
in the final, thus earning a silver medal.
[Rəşid Məmmədbəyov]
Sports-reference.com.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamedbekov, Rashid
1927 births
1970 deaths
Soviet male sport wrestlers
Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union
Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Azerbaijani male sport wrestlers
Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union
Sport wrestlers from Baku
Olympic medalists in wrestling
Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
20th-century Azerbaijani sportsmen