Buvaisar Saitiev
Tie control, patience and counters that won three Olympics
- Born
- March 11, 1975, Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Russia
- Died
- March 2, 2025 (aged 49)
- Nationality
Russia- Height
- 183 cm (6′0″)
- Style
- Tie-control counter wrestler
- Weight
- 74 kg, 76 kg, 85 kg
- Active
- 1994–2008
The medals
3 Olympic golds, 6 world titles
The story
uvaisar Saitiev made the 74 kg class look like an art form. Born in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, he moved to Siberia to train under coach Dmitri Mindiashvili in Krasnoyarsk and won Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996, beating defending champion Park Jang-soon along the way. A 3-4 loss to American Brandon Slay at Sydney 2000 only delayed him: he won again in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, and collected six world titles between 1995 and 2005. Opponents described a wrestler who controlled the ties, forced them to shoot and then countered, stringing snapdowns, feints and underhooks into long chains. In 2007 FILA named him the best freestyle wrestler in history. He later sat in Russia's State Duma and died in Moscow in 2025, nine days before his 50th birthday.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic champion (1996, 2004, 2008)
- World champion ×6 (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005)
- European champion ×6
- Named best freestyle wrestler in history by FILA (2007)
- Order of Friendship (Russia)
Defining matches
- 1996WINAtlanta Olympics (74 kg gold, beating defending champion Park Jang-soon)
- 2000LOSSvs Brandon Slay (Sydney Olympics, 3-4)
- 2004WINAthens Olympics (second Olympic gold)
- 2008WINBeijing Olympics (third Olympic gold)
Win the tie before you attack: Saitiev controlled ties until opponents felt forced to shoot, then countered them. Drill two-on-one and underhook ties that end in a snapdown or a counter off your partner's shot.
2007–2024
