MOSCOW, September 18 – Two-time Olympic champion, Russian freestyle wrestler Abdulrashid Sadulaev, reached the semi-finals in the up to 97 kg weight category at the World Championships in Belgrade.

The 1/4 final bout against Iranian Mojtaba Golej ended with a score of 4:4, with the 27-year-old Russian winning by fall.

Olympic champion of the Games in Rio de Janeiro, number one seed, American Kyle Snyder, lost to Dagestan native Akhmed Tazhudinov, who represents Bahrain, in the quarterfinals with a score of 0:11. Sadulayev will compete with Tazhudinov for reaching the final.

Previously, Sadulayev defeated Snyder in the finals of the world championships in 2018 and 2021, as well as in the fight for gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Russian lost to the American in 2017 at the world championship in Paris.

The World Championships in Belgrade, where Olympic licenses are awarded, will end on September 24. Russians and Belarusians are allowed to participate in competitions in a neutral status.