Valiyev Trusted His Rival But Got Stuck

"Mr. Savlokhov, did you expect this?"

"The boys were literally bursting to fight, for they, as you remember, lost to Russian wrestlers in the World Cup finals and sought revenge. Our team's line-up remains almost unchanged, but the result turned out entirely different."

"We have three champions, and, of course, they must have come to their victories in different ways."

"I am very pleased with Oleksandr Zakharuk who won a gold medal for the third time on the European mat.

"Even in the bouts where he was losing by one or two points, you could see he would make up for it and wind up victorious.

"Elbrus Tadeyev, who became world champion back in 1995, also displayed a great will to win. He was somewhat unlucky after 1995 and walked in the shadows, as it were. As we see, Elbrus made a great effort and managed to re-enter the wrestlers' elite. His character is OK, too: he was once losing 0:6 in a bout, came forward 9:6, and then finished with a clean win.

"But, to my mind, it is Zaza Zazirov who will remember the final victory most vividly. Ten seconds before the end of the bout with the Russian Alaverdiyev, with the score in favor of the latter, Zaza was put on the referee's position mat, and the Russian was expecting a victory. But an incredible thing happened. Zaza managed to rise, clinch the rival by the head and make a throw worth two points. A unique case! Fans in the capital of Belarus gave him a thunderous ovation."

"And were the Russians really 100% sure of winning the team event?"

"There is a well-known wrestler and member of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili. As long ago as last year, after our success in Budapest, he said something about Ukraine winning first place for the first and last time. Imagine how surprised he was when he, together with General Aleksandr Korzhakov, came to Minsk on the third day of the competition only to learn that four Ukrainian athletes at a time will be fighting for the champion's title."

"But still, our closest neighbors almost twisted us round their little finger."

" 'Almost' doesn't count. The point is the new rules allow removing both rivals from the mat for non-performance of techniques. Can you imagine: equally strong athletes, who have already beaten all the others, are wrestling for first place. But they fail to beat each other. Does it mean they should be pronounced losers? For instance, in the final-qualifying bout of superheavyweights, with the score 0:0, the Russian Andrei Shumilin whispered to our Merab Valiyev: look, let me perform a one-point technique, and I will return it to you later. But let the strongest win during overtime. But in fact the Russian "took" a point but didn't give it back. Then he apologized that he had "got stuck..."

"All judges, coaches and athletes see the injustice of this rule, but it still exists and forces wrestlers to resort to these petty tricks, doesn't it?"

"It has long been the subject of discussion, and I think this rule will be changed."

"And what is new in wrestling and what trends have appeared in its development?"

"The role of the referee has increased dramatically, and an athlete who doesn't know how to wrestle in this condition cannot hope for finishing high in a tournament."

"What is in store for our national team in the Sydney Olympics?"

"It will be doomed to success if only it is as strong-willed and closely-knit as in Minsk."