Aleksandr Medved

Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Medved (Russian: Александр Васильевич Медведь; born 16 September 1937) is a retired Soviet freestyle wrestler, who was named by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) as "one of the greatest wrestlers in history". Between 1962 and 1972 he won three Olympic gold medals, seven world and three European titles. He served as the Olympic flag bearer for the Soviet Union in 1972 and for Belarus and recited the Judge's Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.

Biography

According to Medved, his grandparents came from Russia; his grandmother was ca. 195 cm, and his grandfather was even taller. Medved was smaller, at 190 cm and 100+ kg, yet big enough to fit into his last name, which means bear in Russian (and with minor variations in Belarusian and Ukrainian languages).

Between 1967 and 1972 Medved had a rivalry with Bulgarian wrestler Osman Duraliev. They met eight times in the finals of major international championships and Medved won on all occasions. He was close to losing at the 1971 World Championships in Sofia, where Duraliev led the match 4:3 with 43 seconds left. Yet Medved equalized the score and won the title because of his lower body weight.