Dauren Kurugliev

Dauren Kurugliev
Kurugliev in 2020
Personal information
Native nameДаурен Халидович Куруглиев
Full nameDauren Khalidovich Kurugliev
National team Russia (until 2022)
 Greece (since 2023)
Born (1992-07-12) 12 July 1992 (age 32)
Derbent, Dagestan, Russia
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
SportWrestling
Weight class86 kg
EventFreestyle
ClubGamid Gamidova wrestling club
Coached byGaidar Gaidarov
Achievements and titles
World finals5th (2018)
Regional finalsGold (2017)

Gold (2019)

Gold (2023)
Medal record
Men's Freestyle wrestling
Representing  Greece
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris 86 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Zagreb 86 kg
Gold medal – first place 2024 Bucharest 86 kg
Grand Prix
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 86 kg
Representing  Russia
Individual World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2020 Belgrade 86 kg
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2019 Yakutsk 86 kg
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Minsk 86 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Novi Sad 86 kg
Representing Dagestan Dagestan
Russian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2020 Naro-Fominsk 86 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Odintsovo 86 kg
Silver medal – second place 2021 Ulan-Ude 86 kg
Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin
Gold medal – first place 2022 Krasnoyarsk 86 kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Krasnoyarsk 86 kg
Gold medal – first place 2017 Krasnoyarsk 86 kg
Silver medal – second place 2020 Krasnoyarsk 86 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Krasnoyarsk 86 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Krasnoyarsk 86 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Krasnoyarsk 74 kg

Dauren Khalidovich Kurugliev (Russian: Даурен Халидович Куруглиев, Greek: Νταουρέν Κουρουγκλίεφ; born 12 July 1992) is a Russian-born Greek freestyle wrestler, naturalized as a Greek citizen before competing in the Olympic Games Paris 2024.[1] He is the 2019 European Games gold medalist, a 3x European champion and a 2024 Olympic bronze medalist.

Early life

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He was born in Dagestan and is of Lezgian origin. He is the nephew of wrestler Magomed Kurugliyev.

Sport career

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Kurugliev won junior titles including the Russian Junior National Championships in 2011 and the North Caucasian Federal District championships in 2011 and 2013.[2] He competed in the World Cup 2015 in Los Angeles, California and won all three wrestling matches there; he defeated three-time NCAA All-American champion of the Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling Ed Ruth from the United States (by fall), Usukhbaatar Purevee of Mongolia and Aleksandr Gostiev of Azerbaijan. After competing in the American World Cup, he lost in the second round of the 2015 Russian Freestyle Wrestling Championships and so quit his participation there. On 5 July 2015, he lost in the final of the Ali Aliyev Memorial, losing there to Shamil Kudiyamagomedov of Russia.[3]

In 2020, he won the gold medal in the men's 86 kg event at the Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia.[4][5] Since 2023 he started representing Greece in international level and won two European Championships in 2023 and 2024.[6][7]

Kurugliev competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan hoping to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[8] He was eliminated in his second match and he did not qualify for the Olympics.[8] A month later, Kurugliev earned a quota place for Greece for the Olympics at the 2024 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.[9]

At the 2024 Summer Olympics he won the bronze medal in freestyle wrestling. In the match for the bronze medal medal he defeated Myles Amine of San Marino.[10]

Championships and accomplishments

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Honorary greek citizenship

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The exclusion of Russia from all sporting events, as a counter-measure to the country's invasion of Ukraine, deprived many prominent Russian athletes of the opportunity to take part in European competitions. When the United World Wrestling offered Russian athletes the chance to compete with another country, Kurugliev accepted an offer from the Greek Wrestling Federation (EL.O.P.) to compete in Greek colours.[11]

The Greek federation changed his sports citizenship and the wrestler was able to compete and win gold medals at the Men's European Wrestling Championships in Zagreb in April 2023 and in Bucharest in 2024. Following these successes, the EL.O.P. initiated the procedure for him to become a Greek citizen in order to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games. Invoking "Article 13" of the "Greek Citizenship Code", which states that a foreigner may be naturalised as a Greek citizen if he or she has rendered exceptional services to Greece or if his or her naturalisation is in the exceptional interest of the country, the EL.O.P. submitted the relevant application to the Minister of the Interior, Niki Kerameus, on 7 July 2023, asking her to recommend positively to the President of the Republic, that Kurougliev be declared an honorary Greek citizen.[11]

The then Minister did not proceed with the procedure,[12] which resulted in the athlete being unable to qualify for the Olympics through competitions or the world ranking. When the athlete was close to not even qualifying for the pre-Olympic tournament, the federation appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene. The Prime Minister's Office instructed that the procedures should be initiated immediately and that the passport should be issued so that Kurugliev could register for the Olympics. Finally, on 28 February 2024, he took the oath of Greek citizenship before the Secretary General of Citizenship.[13] In the end, he managed to take part in the final qualifying tournament in Istanbul, where he qualified for Paris.

References

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  1. ^ "Είναι ο Νταουρέν Κουρουγκλίεφ Ελληνας". 20 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Dauren Kurugliev". wrestdag.ru. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Ali Aliyev memorial results". wrestdag.ru. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  4. ^ Shefferd, Neil (18 December 2020). "Russia close UWW Individual Championships in style with four more golds on final day". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  5. ^ "2020 Individual Wrestling World Cup Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Даурен Куруглиев в шаге от третьего "золота" на чемпионатах Европы". riadagestan.ru. 18 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  7. ^ "2024 European Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  8. ^ a b "2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  9. ^ "2024 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Даурен Куруглиев выиграл "бронзу" на Олимпиаде". riadagestan.ru. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
  11. ^ a b ""Ελλάδα, επέτρεψε μου να αγωνιστώ στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες και θα δοξάσω τη Σημαία"" ["Greece, allow me to compete in the Olympics and I will glorify the Flag"]. tanea.gr. ΤΑ ΝΕΑ. 18 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Νταουρέν Κουρουγκλίεβ: Πώς η Κεραμέως είχε απορρίψει την ελληνοποίηση του χάλκινου Ολυμπιονίκη – Η παρέμβαση Μητσοτάκη" [Dauren Kurougliev: How Kerameos had rejected the Greekization of the Olympic bronze medalist - The intervention of Mitsotakis]. topontiki.gr. 10 August 2024.
  13. ^ Antonis Moustakas (28 February 2024). "Έλληνας ορκίστηκε o Νταουρέν Κουρουγκλίεβ" [Dauren Kurugliev sworn in as a Greek]. kingsport/gr.
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