Saypulla Absaidov

Saypulla Absaidov took up freestyle wrestling in 1973 and found his first fame three years later at the 1976 European Junior Championships, where he won gold as a featherweight. As a junior, Absaidov also won the 1977 World and 1978 European junior titles, both in featherweight. In 1978, after his second European junior title, Absaidov moved to the senior ranks and was immediately successful, winning the 1978 World Cup and earning silver at the 1978 European Championships, both as a featherweight. In 1979 Absaidov moved to the lightweight class, in which he was the Olympic Champion in 1980, World Champion in 1981 and European Champion in 1980. He also earned two Soviet titles in 1980 and 1981. After finishing his sporting career, Absaidov worked as a wrestling coach. Since 2009 he has been head coach of the Azerbaijani national freestyle wrestling team.