“I think my father is happy. I made his dream come true.” Interview with Zaurbek Sidakov after winning the World Cup

Wrestling is one of the few sports in which the international federation has allowed Russian athletes to participate in international competitions in reality and not on paper. The World Championships in Belgrade began with a freestyle wrestling tournament, during which the Russians won four of six Olympic licenses and four of ten possible medals.

One of the leaders of the Russian team, Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov confirmed his great class in Belgrade and became three-time world champion. The Russian wrestler’s path to gold turned out to be incredibly difficult – in each of the six fights he was opposed by a titled opponent who could easily have been in the medals. It was also not easy morally for Zaurbek – his father died in April.

From the interview with Zaurbek Sidakov you will learn:

— After winning the final, you ran through the stands and shouted: “I am a man!” I am a man!”. Why did this particular phrase come out?

“It’s just that I fought not only with my opponents, but also with myself. I was able to prove to myself who I was.

– You are very tired ?

— After the final, I could only sleep three hours. I can’t remember the last time I had six contractions in two days. This World Championship was one of the most difficult of my entire career. But the more difficult the path, the sweeter the victory.

— In addition to the number of contractions, there were also difficulties during contractions. Your opponents were all titled wrestlers, from the qualifications onwards.

— From the first fights, all my opponents were very difficult. At first I fought with the silver medalist of the World Championship Avtandil Kenchadze. Besides, I beat him in the final in 2018, then it was also a tense fight. In the second fight in Belgrade, I defeated the medalist of the World Championships and Olympic Games Bekzod Abdurakhmonov. I beat him in the Olympics too. Further down the category, I fought with a very good and promising Iranian, double medalist at the World Championships, Younes Emami. He fought against world champion and European Championship medalist Khetag Tsabolov to reach the semi-finals. I know him very well, we train together. I lost twice to Tsabolov, now we are tied – 2:2. In the semi-final, I beat the Azerbaijani Turan Bayramov, under-23 world champion.

— And the end of such a difficult course is the American Kyle Dake in the final.

– Yes, everyone knows him very well. He is a four-time world champion, Olympic medalist and a very serious opponent.

— After the finale, Dake said he wanted to see you again and get revenge on you. What can you say to the American?

– Sooner or later we will meet. I hope during a major tournament. It is precisely these starts that I approach at the top of my form and where I feel very good. I like to take a responsible approach to my work.

— Were there times in these fights when you thought you might lose?

– No, I didn’t doubt myself. Throughout each fight, I inspired myself: “I will win, I will definitely win.” »

— At the same time, even when you lost, there was no doubt about victory?

– Did not have. I was confident. And when I lost, it wasn’t in the last seconds, there was quite a bit of time left. I just moved forward. The most important thing is to be focused, have confidence and everything will work out.

— You spoke of physical fatigue. Were you mentally tired during the tournament?

— I was more physically tired. In general, I am a psychologically stable person, I treat everything adequately. When people ask to be photographed or journalists ask for an interview, I try not to refuse anyone. It’s my duty as an athlete. People cheered for me and now I have to return the favor.

— But the situation, where until recently it was not clear whether you would go to the World Cup, certainly put moral pressure on you?

– Yes. At first they told us we weren’t going. Then two days later they said we were finally leaving. It was a week before the World Cup. Well, we quickly packed our things and flew to Belgrade. But when we got here, the conversations started again – whether they allowed it or not. And when the draw has already taken place, we all exhaled. As they say, I came, I saw, I conquered.

— To be in top shape for the World Championships, you generally have to prepare for a long time, the whole season. And you will know that you are participating a week before departure. And were you ready in one click?

– No, of course, it’s not a Hollywood movie in which they prepare for a week. We train all year round, it never happens that we take a month or two off. Even a week off is rare for us. Now I’m going home for three days. I will see all my near and dear ones again and I have to train again. Discipline, exercise in the morning, you must do at least one workout per day. We have races almost every month, so you always have to be in good shape.

— It is clear that there are Russian tournaments, but for almost two years you have not had any international competitions. Where did you find the motivation?

– It’s discipline. If there is discipline, the athlete always feels good, is always ready to go out and fight in the highest tournaments.

— Are you satisfied with the state in which you approached this World Cup? Or were you not one hundred percent ready?

“I became world champion, which means I did everything right.” If I lost, I would look for the reasons for the defeat mainly in myself, including thinking that I was ill-prepared. I won and thank God everything went so well. During such major competitions, the athlete must completely turn his head away from unnecessary thoughts. Even if you are not physically one hundred percent ready, you must be completely mentally ready.

— In your case, it was probably particularly difficult to prepare yourself mentally, given the recent loss of your father, to whom you dedicated this medal?

— Various thoughts came to my mind. At first I was devastated, but then I pulled myself together. After that, I had a hard time pulling myself together, but I managed. I set myself a goal: to win the World Championship and dedicate this victory to my father. This goal gave me strength. I am very happy to have succeeded. I think my father is also happy and happy for me somewhere up there. I did everything for him, everything he dreamed of, including becoming an Olympic champion.

— How do you think you will be received now in your homeland, Ossetia?

— I think they will let you take one step freely, but no more (Laughs). I would like to express my deep gratitude to the fans, to everyone who supported me, to everyone who was not lazy and came to Belgrade.

— What do you think of neutral status?

– Provocative question (smiling). If I don’t feel good about this status, then why did I come here? If I treat you well, it turns out that a person has no soul and the flag is indifferent. And I always have our national flag in my heart.

— When you took the podium, in honor of your victory, they raised a white flag, not Russia’s, and played the anthem of the United Struggle Union, not Russia. How did you feel at that moment?

“In my heart is our tricolor.” At that moment, I imagined that the flag of our great homeland was rising. However, everyone knows where I come from, what country.

— How was your communication with foreign wrestlers off the mat?

— Rivals from other countries still respect and love us. No foreign wrestler pays attention to our neutrality, we always communicate as friendly at the World Championships as before. Many wrestlers got bored and asked how things were going. They were happy that we came, because without Russia the World Cup would not be the same. And some wrestlers were unhappy when we arrived, because Russia has the strongest wrestling school.

“And this is confirmed by the fact that at this world championship, one in six freestyle wrestlers was Russian.

– It’s true. In Russia there is very strong competition, every third number in our country can appear in the World Championship prizes or even win it. That’s why guys move to other countries and change sports citizenship. In my weight category there are also many Russian wrestlers who now compete for other countries.

— What do you think of the fact that they changed their sporting citizenship?

“There’s nothing wrong with that, I’m not judging.” They represent other countries for the opportunity to compete on the international stage.

— Would you change your sporting citizenship?

– No, why should I change?

— Your next goal is to become a double Olympic champion?

– If God wills. But there are still a few tournaments to come, I will prepare them, and then we will see. I won’t run in front of the train.

— After being admitted to the World Championships, do you have the feeling that Russian wrestlers will be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games?

“I think there’s a good chance that that will happen.” We have already won Olympic licenses. I think 80 percent of us will be allowed to attend the Paris Olympics.