Oleksandr Zakharuk

Oleksandr Valeriyovych Zakharuk (Ukrainian: Олександр Валерійович Захарук; born August 25, 1976, in Kiev) is a retired amateur Ukrainian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category.[1] Considered one of the world's top freestyle wrestlers in his decade, Zakharuk had claimed five European championship titles, picked up three bronze medals at the World Championships (1999, 2002, and 2003), and achieved top eight finishes in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004).[2] Throughout his sporting career, Zakharuk trained as a member of the freestyle wrestling team for Ukraina Kyiv Sport Club, under his coach Serhiy Obesnyuk.

Oleksandr Zakharuk

Personal information
Full name	Oleksandr Valeriyovych Zakharuk
Nationality	Ukraine
Born	(1976-08-25) 25 August 1976 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.61 m (5 ft 3+1⁄2 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Sport	Wrestling
Style	Freestyle
Club	Ukraina Kyiv
Coach	Serhiy Obesnyuk
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing  Ukraine World Championships 1999 Ankara 54 kg 2002 Tehran 55 kg 2003 New York 55 kg European Championships 1997 Warsaw 54 kg 1998 Bratislava 54 kg 1999 Minsk 54 kg 2000 Budapest 54 kg 2006 Moscow 55 kg

Zakharuk entered the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, as a top medal contender, in the men's bantamweight category (54 kg), after claiming a bronze from the 1999 World Wrestling Championships in Ankara, Turkey.[3] During the preliminary pool, Zakharuk pinned neighboring Russia's Leonid Chuchunov on his opening bout, and then eclipsed Bulgaria's Ivan Tsonov with a powerful effort and a 10-point advantage to earn him a spot for the quarterfinals.[4] Followed by the next morning's session, Zakharuk fell behind U.S. wrestler and 1998 world champion Sammie Henson with a score 4–8, before he sought a chance to fight back in a consolation battle against Kazakhstan's Maulen Mamyrov for a fifth-place finish.[5][6]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Zakharuk qualified for his second Ukrainian squad, as a 28-year-old, in the men's featherweight class (55 kg) with another brilliant sporting record. After the abolition of the bantamweight division in amateur wrestling that propelled him to fight at least a single kilogram heavier than in 2000, Zakharuk picked up his third career bronze medal in the men's featherweight category at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States, which earned him a spot on the Ukrainian Olympic team.[7][8] He continued to deliver a more stellar performance from Sydney four years earlier by pinning Kazakhstan's Baurzhan Orazgaliyev and overpowering Belarusian wrestler and 2001 world champion Herman Kantoyeu to seize another shot of an Olympic medal. Fighting against Russia's Mavlet Batirov in the quarterfinal match, Zakharuk could not score a single point to push him off the mat, and instead, managed to finish only in seventh at the end of the tournament.[9]