Artur Taymazov
Artur Taymazov (; ; born 20 July 1979) is an Ossetian-Uzbek-Russian wrestler and politician. 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a result of retesting samples he had been disqualified from the 2008 Olympics for a drug violation, and his gold medal withdrawn.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samples he had been disqualified from the  2012 Olympics for a drug violation, and his gold medal from that event also withdrawn. 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. He was stripped of his medal with his 2012 results as pending. 2012  London Olympics. In the 2012 Games in London he won his third consecutive Gold Medal by beating Davit Modzmanashvili of Georgia in the final by 2-0. 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samples he had been disqualified from the 2012 Olympics for a drug violation, and his gold medal from that event also withdrawn. Politics. He is a member of the State Duma since 2016, representing the North Ossetia constituency