According to unofficial data, North Ossetia ranks first in the world in terms of the specific number of champions in freestyle wrestling per capita. Whether it is true or not is not known for sure. However, one thing is certain with certainty: freestyle wrestling is very popular in the republic. Due to the huge competition at the domestic level, many athletes leave to play for other countries. One of those who were not afraid of a tough fight and remained in the Russian Federation is the legendary Khadzhimurat Gatsalov, a five-time world champion and Olympic medalist. Some time ago, he successfully moved from the category up to 96 kg to heavyweight.
Champion's first steps
Khadzhimurat Soltanovich Gatsalov was born in North Ossetia, in the village of Chikola. He was brought up in an Ossetian family professing Islam. He has three older brothers. All of them are professional athletes. As a child, our hero often tried on medals that they brought from competitions.
The boy began to engage in free-style wrestling in his native village, after which he decided to develop further, having moved to the capital of the republic. In Vladikavkaz, Khadzhimurat began to train at the Alans sports club. His coach and mentor was Vadim Tseboev. Their cooperation is still ongoing.
Gatsalov from childhood dreamed of getting to the Olympics. In 2000, he already felt within himself the strength to go to conquer the treasured peak. When did a native of North Ossetia start playing for the Russian national team? This happened in 2001 after the guy won the first prizes in domestic competitions.
Soon the first victories of the international level followed. In 2002, Khadzhimurat Gatsalov won the World Cup in the American city of Spokane.
Athenian exploits
Decisive for the Ossetian athlete was the victory at the 2002 Russian Championship. Thus, he secured an Olympic ticket to the Games in Athens.
Khadzhimurat Gatsalov is a combination of physical power, intelligence and speed, which is quite rare in the world of sports. At his first Olympics, the young athlete, who recently played at the junior level, was absolutely calm, counting every move of his rivals. He did not give in to emotions. Particularly noteworthy was his fight in the semifinals.
He was opposed by the future champion of mixed-style fights according to the UFC -
Daniel Cormier. The Russian freestyle wrestler then did not yet know about it. Ossetian confidently outplayed the American wrestler.
In the final, he acted against the Uzbek fighter Ibragimov. In a stubborn battle, our hero managed to win. He brought the Russian national team a gold medal in the category up to 96 kg.
After this, the real era of Khadzhimurat Gatsalov began in the world of free-style wrestling. For several years in a row he won the world championships, having accumulated 4 titles by 2010.
Lull and return
Freestyle wrestling is a very traumatic sport. Over the years of an active career, wrestlers are overgrown with injuries, various injuries, and lose in speed and sharpness. Khadzhimurat Gatsalov began to appear young competitors. The period came when the Ossetian athlete could not win at the international level. But he did not despair.
The triumphant return took place in 2013, when the Ossetians again won the world championship. He did this, stepping over from his usual weight category to heavyweight.
A year later, Khadzhimurat Gatsalov again goes to the world championship. He had to fight in the category of up to 120 kg. In Tashkent, he was not left without awards. H. Gatsalov took a bronze medal. Despite a successful experiment, in 2016, the athlete returns to the usual weight category up to 96 kg. Ossetian was going to participate in the national championship, which became the selection for the Olympics in Rio. Here he could not oppose anything to Anzor Boltukaev, who caught courage , who ultimately won a clear victory.
Personal life
Khadzhimurat Gatsalov - a large father. He brings up four sons and two daughters. Now a large family of a Russian wrestler lives in Vladikavkaz.