Gadzhimurad Rashidov

Rashidov decided to compete at 65 kilos for the 2020 Olympic cycle, at Yarygin 2019 in the warm-up he got hand injury, in the first match he faced American folkstyle superstar and NCAA 3-time champion Zain Retherford of Penn State. He won the match by score (4-3), then he faced 2-time world bronze medalist Akhmed Chakaev of Chechnya and lost in very close match. For bronze medal match Rashidov faced Cristian Lopez of Cuba and won the match by score (2-1).

He made his debut at the World Championships 2019 in his newly-adopted weight of class of 65kg, in the first round he beat Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan - in a rematch of the 2017 World Wrestling Championships' final at 61kg - by score (4-2). In the quarterfinal, he beat his teammate Gadzhimurad Aliev (Haji Mohamad Ali) by score (9-0), in the semifinal he beat his countryman Ismail Muuskaev in a close match (3-2), in the final match he will face Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan.

He is currently the #1 ranked at the 61 kg in UWW rankings as of 1 February 2018.

Rashidov won European world team trials at the Ivan Yarygin 2018 and represented the Russian team at 61 kilos at the 2018 European Wrestling Championships. His first opponent was Vladimir Burukov of Ukraine, he won the match within a minute. In the second round he beat his countryman from Sakha Republic who represent the Belarus Nurgun Skryabin. In semifinals, he faced Recep Topal of Turkey and beat him by the score, 4-0. In the gold medal match, he beat Beka Lomtadze of Georgia and won the second European title in his career.

As of 25 August 2017, Rashidov is ranked No. 2 in the 61 kg (134 lb) category by the UWW. He was named Athlete of the Year of 2017.

After defeats over Viktor Rassadin of Sakha-Yakutia at the 2017 Russian National Freestyle Wrestling Championships, he competed at the 2017 World Championships in Paris. His first opponent was Jozsef Molnar of Hungary; Rashidov beat him by technical fall (11-0). In the round of eight, he won 11-0 over NCAA four-times champion from Ohio State Logan Stieber. In the quarterfinal, he rematched World and Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia and beat him by the score, 6-3. In the semifinal Rashidov faced with his countryman from Krasnoyarsk, Opan Sat. Rashidov won the wrestling match (8-2). In the gold medal match, Rashidov lost to three-times world champion from Azerbaijan, Haji Aliyev, by pinfall.

Rashidov competed at the 2016 European Wrestling Championships in Riga, Latvia. There he beat Yuriy Holub of Israel, Levan Vartanov of Spain and in the quarterfinals Georgi Vangelov of Bulgaria, three times by technical fall. In the semifinal he beat Asadulla Lachinau of Belarus (6-0), and in the final he defeated Andriy Yatsenko of Ukraine.

His first notable performance was at the 2015 European Nations Cup where he claimed the gold medal at 57 kg. Furthermore, he is a European champion of 2016 and World Championships runner-up of 2017. After winning bronze in the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2016 (57 kg), Rashidov was named Wrestler of the Month (February 2016 and March) of Dagestan.

In national competitions the Russian won bronze in 2015 and two years later triumphed in his country. At the 2016 Russian Nationals he won two matches (Azamat Tuskaev of RNO-Alania and Nikolay Okhlopkov of Sakha) but the Dagestani team then refused to compete after not accepting the decision made in the final match between Viktor Lebedev of Sakha Yakutia and Ismail Musukaev of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Gadzhimurad Gazigandovich Rashidov (Russian: Гаджимурад Газигандович Рашидов ; born 30 October 1995 in Dagestan) is a Russian freestyle wrestler of Dargin descent. Senior World Champion 2019. One of his first achievements came at the Cadet World Champion where he triumphed twice; at the 2011 Cadet World Championships he beat Hassan Yazdani to claim the gold medal. In his early career he also claimed two bronze medals at the Junior World Championships. Two-time World senior championships runner-up and World Cup 2019 winner.