Today the natives of the North Caucasus have won a full set of Olympic medals. Gold medal was won by freestyle wrestler from North Ossetia Zaurbek Sidakov, silver medal was won by boxer Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (stands for Krasnodar Territory), bronze medal won by boxer Zenfira Magomedalieva (Dagestan). A silver medal was also won by a member of the national team of Belarus, Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov, a native of the Tsumadinsky district of Dagestan. It was he who lost to Sidakov in the final with a score of 0: 7.
Experts called Zaurbek Sidakov the favorite of the middle weight category (up to 74 kg.). In Tokyo, he confidently passed Augusto Midan from Guinea-Bissau, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov from Uzbekistan, Daniyar Kaisanov from Kazakhstan. In the final he met with a Dagestani from Belarus Kadimagomedov. Zaurbek finished two fights at the Olympics ahead of schedule, including in the semifinals with Kazakh Daniyar Kaisanov (11: 0). Kadimagomedov, according to sports experts, got more serious rivals on the way to the final: American Kyle Dyck and Cuban, playing for Italy, Frank Chamiso. Both opponents were among the favorites of many international tournaments.
Sidakov and Kadimagomedov have already met at prestigious tournaments. At the 2017 Russian Championship, the Dagestani won the final, since then he was still playing in his homeland. In Dagestan, they say that Magomedkhabib is one of the close friends of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Both were born and raised in the high-mountainous Tsumadinsky region, bordering Chechnya.
At the Tokyo Olympics, according to experts, Sidakov had no equal. The North Ossetian wrestler dominated all fights, which distinguished him from other members of the Russian team. He dedicated his victory to his fellow countryman, Olympic medalist Besik Kudukhov, who died in a road accident in 2013. They are both from Beslan. Today, relatives and neighbors gathered at the Sidakovs' house in this city to watch the final match. According to eyewitnesses, before the fight, the senior Sidakovs said a prayer over three ritual Ossetian pies. All of Ossetia celebrated the victory. Sidakov's gold became the 62nd medal for the Russian national team at the Games in Tokyo. To date, Russian athletes have won 17 gold, 23 silver and 22 bronze medals.
Zaurbek is a two-time world champion (2018–2019), a champion of the 2019 European Games, a multiple winner of the Russian championships. He plays not only for North Ossetia, but also for the team of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug.
As a result, athletes from three North Caucasian republics won gold medals: classic wrestler Musa Yevloyev (Ingushetia), freestyle wrestlers Zaur Uguyev (Dagestan) and Zaurbek Sidakov (North Ossetia). These victories will undoubtedly contribute to the popularization of wrestling in the region, as well as boxing - thanks to the Dagestanis Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (up to 91 kg) and Zenfira Magomedalieva (up to 75 kg).
Muslim already has the title of Honored Master of Sports of Russia. For him, the most successful year was 2019, when he won the World, European and European Games. In 2017, Muslim became the silver medalist of the European Championship. In the final of the Olympic tournament in Tokyo, he lost to Cuban Julio La Cruz, who is called a phenomenal heavyweight fighter. But Gadzhimagomedov was unanimously recognized as the second in the world, not only by the result, and by the professional level.
Zenfira Magomedalieva is a two-time world and European champion, and a four-time champion of Russia. She became the first world champion in women's boxing in the history of Dagestan, in connection with which President Vladimir Putin congratulated her by telegram. At home, Zenfira is called "the queen of the leather glove." In his entire sports career, Zenfira has only three defeats. It is interesting that she began to engage in boxing at the age of 23 and managed to win so many tournaments over the past ten years.
Zenfira's bronze medal became the fourth in the collection of Olympic achievements of the natives of Dagestan in Tokyo. In addition to her, boxer Albert Batyrgaziev, freestyle wrestler Zaur Uguyev, silver - boxer Muslim Gadzhimagomedov bring gold from Japan. This is the most significant result of all the North Caucasian republics.
