Rashid Garabey oglu Mammadbeyov (, ; 28 February 1927 – 4 December 1970) was a bantamweight freestyle wrestler. He became the first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

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 Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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