Arawat Sabejew

Born in Petropavl, Kazakhstan, Arawat Sabejew represented Germany at the 1996 Atlanta and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In Atlanta, he won the bronze medal in the freestyle heavyweight class, and four years later finished ninth.

Until 1991, Sabejew represented the Soviet Union and then moved to Germany after the fall of the “iron curtain”. In 1989 and 1990 he won the European Championships representing the Soviet Union. He then won the 1993 Europeans for Germany, and the World Championships in 1994, followed by a silver medal the following year. Sabejew added one more silver (2000) and two bronze medals (1995 and 1997) at subsequent European Championships.

Nationally, Sabejew won the German title in 1993, and 1995-97. By profession, he became an office clerk and coached at his home club VFK Schifferstadt. He was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award.