Artur Taymazov

Artur Borisovich Taymazov (; ; born 20 July 1979) is an Uzbek-Russian wrestler and politician and an ethnic Ossetian. He was Uzbekistan's most decorated Olympian before being stripped of two gold medals for doping. In 2016, he was elected to the 7th State Duma of the Russian Federation representing United Russia.

On 5 April 2017, it was announced that as a result of retesting samples he had been disqualified from the 2008 Olympics for a drug violation, and his gold medal was withdrawn. On 23 July 2019, it was announced that as a result of retesting samples he had been disqualified from the 2012 Olympics for a drug violation, and his gold medal from that event was also withdrawn. As both of his gold medals were re-allocated to Russian wrestlers, Taymazov said he was nonetheless happy to "bring" two golds to Russia.

Early life In childhood, he was doing weightlifting but when he turned 11, a freestyle wrestling club opened in his village and he decided to wrestle. His older brother Tymur Taymazov was a 1996 Olympic Games champion in weightlifting, competing for Ukraine.

Olympics

2000 Sydney Olympics Making his Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000, he won Uzbekistan's first Olympic wrestling medal in the 130 kg weight class, losing to Russian David Musul'bes in the final.

2004 Athens Olympics In the 2004 Games in Athens he became Uzbekistan's first multiple-medalist after winning gold in the 120 kg weight class.

2008 Beijing Olympics He successfully defended his 120 kg title in Beijing four years later, this time defeating Musul'bes in the semifinals, winning 3–0, 1–0 in the final against Russian Bakhtiyar Akhmedov. After his second olympic title in Beijing, he was honored in his country by the Buyuk Hizmatlari Uchun Order ("For Outstanding Services").

His urine sample was retested in 2016, and he was found to be taking a banned substance. Taymazov was stripped of his medal, and his 2008 results were disqualified.

2012 London Olympics At the 2012 Games in London, he won his third consecutive gold medal by beating Davit Modzmanashvili of Georgia in the final 2–0.

On the athlete's page which introduced Taymazov, his height was wrongly shown as 1.75 m, but his actual height was 1.90 m.

On 23 July 2019, it was announced that as a result of retesting samples, Taymazov had been disqualified from the 2012 Olympics for a drug violation, and his gold medal from that event was withdrawn.

Results Source: EventRank 1 1998 World Youth Games 2 Wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Qualification 3 2000 Asian Championship 4 2000 Olympic 5 2001 World Championship 6 2002 World Championship 8th 7 2002 Asian Games 8 2003 World Championship 9 2004 Olympic 10 2005 World Championship 10th 11 2006 World Championship 12 2006 Asian Games 13 2007 World Championship 14 2008 Olympic DSQ 15 2010 World Championship 16 2010 Asian Games 17 2011 Asian Championship 18 2011 World Championship 8th 19 Wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualification 20 2012 Olympic DSQ

Politics He has been a member of the State Duma since 2016, representing the North Ossetia constituency.

Sanctions

He was sanctioned by Canada under the Special Economic Measures Act (S.C. 1992, c. 17) in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine for Grave Breach of International Peace and Security, and by the UK government in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.