Besik Kudukhov was born in South Ossetia, which de jure belongs to Georgia, but de facto is controlled by the Russian military since the 2008 Russian-Georgian war that started just a day before the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics. Kudukhov started wrestling in 1995 and was chosen to the Russian national team in 2005. At the end of the 2000s, Kudukhov was considered among the best featherweight and later lightweight freestyle wrestlers in the World. Kudukhov won the Olympic featherweight bronze in 2008 and Olympic lightweight silver in 2012. He also won the World title four times – in 2007 in featherweight and from 2009-2011 in lightweight, and was European featherweight champion in 2007 and won the featherweight silver at the 2006 World Championships. Domestically Kudukhov won the Russian title five times – in 2005 in featherweight and from 2009-2012 in lightweight.
In the early morning of 29 December 2013, Kudukhov lost control over his car on the Kavkaz highway near Armavir and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction. Kudukhov died at the scene. He had been charged with a doping violation at the 2012 London Olympics after a re-test of samples, but after he died, the case was filed as no penalty could be assessed after death as he had no opportunity to appeal any ruling.
Russian Federation