Dagestan land gave the world more than one strong freestyle wrestler. Due to the enormous competition within the Russian national team, many guys from the Caucasus are leaving to play for the national teams of other countries in order to be able to play at the World Championships, Europe, and the Olympic Games. One of these “defectors” was wrestler Murad Gaidarov, a talented middleweight who played for the team of Belarus. Today he completed his sports career and returned to his homeland.
Khasavyurt native
Murad Gaydarov was born in 1980 in Khasavyurt, in Dagestan. All his brothers were engaged in freestyle wrestling, including Gaidar Gaidarov, who would later assume the functions of a personal trainer of the future Olympic medalist.
A large role in the biography of Murad Gaydarov was played by his uncle Yakub Nutsalov, who brought him and Gaidar to the gym. He himself also engaged in freestyle wrestling, achieved the title of master of sports. Murad zealously took up the matter and soon became one of the best in his city. However, at some point, he became very keen on kickboxing.
Hiding his passion from relatives, the Avar secretly visited the next room, where he zealously beat on a sandbag. Murad Gaydarov’s sports specialization was in doubt, he was equally interested in wrestling and kickboxing, but his older brother said his weighty word. Gaidar found out about the tricks of his brother and talked toughly with him, so he decided to still focus on one thing.
A short history of performances for Russia
Soon a talented guy from Khasavyurt fell into the attention zone of the coaches of the Russian national teams, and Murad Gaidarov began to regularly represent the honor of the country at various junior tournaments. Becoming the first number in Russia, he sought the right to participate in the world championships, Europe. So, in 1996, the Dagestani won the World Championship among youths, and in 2000 became the champion of the continent among youth.
In 2000, an anecdotal story happened with Murad Gaidarov. Together with the Russian national team, he came to the qualification tournament in Leipzig, where licenses for participation in the Olympics were played out. Being in the status of a junior, he did not take part in competitions, simply playing the role of an extras. An unpleasant incident happened in the Azerbaijani team - one of the athletes was late for the flight and did not show up for the fight.
The trainer of the Transcaucasian Republic asked his Russian colleagues to put Murad instead of his fighter, and he went out on the carpet to defend the honor of the Azerbaijani flag and even won the starting fights. However, the judges soon discovered a substitution and stopped the Avar’s victorious tread.
New Belarus
The transition to an adult level suggested significant difficulties for Murad. Indeed, in the category of up to 74 kg very strong athletes fought, a special place among which was occupied by Buvaysar Saitiev, who had already become the champion of the Sydney Olympics. Just in time, an offer came from friend Murad Gaydarov Rasul Rasulov to try his hand as a fighter representing the Republic of Belarus.
The Avars opened a direct road to participate in the World Championships, Europe, the opportunity to speak at the Olympic Games, and after some thought he agreed to issue a Belarusian passport.
The first serious awards were found by fighter Murad Gaydarov in 2002, when he became the silver medalist of the European Championship. The main rival on the world stage for him was his fellow countryman - Buvaysar Saitiev, with whom the sports draw regularly brought Murad to all major tournaments.
Especially dramatic was their duel in the finals of the 2003 World Cup in New York. Most of the time ended with a score of 2: 2, and the judges awarded the victory to Buvaysar, explaining this by exhaustive search of Murad’s remarks.
Olympic medalist
The first Olympiad ended for the Belarusian wrestler with a defeat in the quarter-finals from the same Buvaysar Saytiev. Murad did not lose heart and began to prepare for the next four-year starts, which were to be held in Beijing in 2008.
At this Olympics, Murad Gaydarov, whose photo did not disappear from the pages of Belarusian sports publications, was unstoppable and brilliantly defeated all his rivals on the way to the semifinals. Here he was awaited by the Ossetian wrestler Soslan Tigiev, representing Uzbekistan.
The battle between the Uzbek and Belarus did not end in favor of the latter, who began to wait for his opponent in the consolation final for bronze. The young Romanian Stefan was flimsy for a seasoned Dagestan who, even with a meniscus injury, managed to confidently defeat his opponent.
After gaining the status of an Olympic medalist, Murad Gaidarov went into the shadows for some time, healing old injuries and restoring health. Later, he was still noted for his hasty performances, in particular, becoming the silver medalist of the 2014 European Championship.
Having finished his sports career, Murad Gaydarov left hospitable Belarus and returned to his native Dagestan.