Seyfula Seferovich Magomedov (; born May 15, 1983, in

Makhachkala Makhachkala, previously known as Petrovskoye (1844–1857) and Port-Petrovsk (1857–1921), or by the local Kumyk language, Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Dagestan, Russia. ...

Dagestan ASSR The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991), abbreviated as Dagestan ASSR or DASSR and also unofficially known as Soviet Dagestan or just simply Dagestan, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union ...

) is a Russian

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

practitioner, who competed in the men's flyweight category, the first ever four-time European Taekwondo Champion. Emerging as Russia's most decorated taekwondo player of all time, Magomedov accrued a set of twenty-one medals in his sporting career, including four European men's flyweight titles, three bronzes from the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, and a single gold from the

2005 Summer Universiade The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey, in August. Emblem The emblem is the letter "U", inspired by the bird's-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir. This shape has perfectly fit the letter ...

in Izmir, Turkey. Magomedov was also selected to compete for the Russian taekwondo team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where he finished only in the opening round of the men's 58-kg division. Magomedov qualified for the Russian squad in the men's flyweight class (58 kg) at the

. Earlier in the process, he boosted a gold-medal victory over Great Britain's Paul Green to secure his place on the Russian team from the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Baku, Azerbaijan Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, before his British rival sought revenge on him to a vicious defeat at the European Championships in

Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

a few months later. Magomedov missed his chance to reinstate another glory over Green for the quarterfinal match, after crashing out in a disgraceful 10–12 defeat to Vietnam's Nguyễn Quốc Huân in the opening round. With his Vietnamese opponent losing the semifinals to Mexico's Óscar Salazar, Magomedov shortened his hopes to aim for Russia's first Olympic taekwondo medal in the repechage. In 2005, Magomedov improved from his ill-fated Olympic feat to strike Iran's Majid Sajjadi with a 5–1 record for his first ever career gold medal in the 54-kg division at the

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

in Izmir, Turkey, adding this accolade to two bronzes each from the World and European Championships. The following year, he reached the summit of his sporting career by obtaining his first European men's flyweight title in

Bonn, Germany Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, defeating his Azerbaijani opponent Zahid Mammadov. Magomedov sought a bid on his second debut for 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 ...

, but he fell behind Portugal's Pedro Povoa in the quarterfinal match at the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in th ...

. At the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in

Gyeongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Magomedov lost the semifinal match 5–7 to Thailand's Chutchawal Khawlaor in the men's finweight division, but had to settle only for the bronze medal on the Russian taekwondo team. Despite missing out a bid for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

on his second attempt, Magomedov managed to defend his gold medal for the fourth straight time in the 54-kg division at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

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References

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magomedov, Seyfula 1983 births Living people Rutul people Russian male taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Russia Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Taekwondo Championships medalists European Taekwondo Championships medalists Summer World University Games medalists in taekwondo FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia Martial artists from Makhachkala Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade 21st-century Russian sportsmen