Ikhtiyor Navruzov

Ikhtiyor Navruzov

Personal information
Full name	Ikhtiyor Karimovich Navruzov
Nationality	Uzbekistan
Born	(1989-07-05) July 5, 1989 Bukhara, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
Country	Uzbekistan
Sport	Wrestling
Event	Freestyle
Medal record Representing Uzbekistan Men's freestyle wrestling Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 65 kg World Championships 2015 Las Vegas 65 kg Asian Games 2014 ncheon 65 kg Asian Championships 2011 Tashkent 66 kg 2010 New Delhi 66 kg Junior World Championships 2008 Istanbul 66 kg

Ikhtiyor Karimovich Navruzov (born 5 July 1989 in Bukhara) is an Uzbek freestyle wrestler. He competed in the 66 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and lost quarter finals match against India's Sushil Kumar. He is a silver 2015 World Wrestling Championships medalist in the 65 kg.

Navruzov won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 65 kg freestyle wrestling event against Mongolia's Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran. The Mongolian coaches protested the loss, as Navruzov won a penalty point on a technicality in the final seconds of the match. Upon realizing he had won bronze, Navruzov twice screamed "Allahu Akbar," the Islamic Takbir. Before the bout against Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran, Navruzov was also part of another controversy where he defeated Puerto Rico's Franklin Gómez, which would result of an investigation made by the United World Wrestling that would suspend four judges from Georgia, South Korea, Germany and Russia.

Rio 2016

Match against Franklin Gómez

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Navruzov faced Franklin Gómez of Puerto Rico. Gómez and Navruzov were tied 5-5 in the second round. As the fight was about to end, Gómez made a move that took Navruzov outside of the ring, initially warranting two points for Gómez. However, one of the officers argued that the move favored Navruzov, forcing Gómez' corner to challenge the call. When the officers decided against him, the bout ended 8-5 for Navruzov.

The decision was controversial from the beginning, with various experts and sources calling the decision "insane", and saying that Gómez was "robbed" on Twitter. Some notable wrestlers and coaches that tweeted in support of Gómez were Eric Thompson, Jake Varner, Cael Sanderson, Mark Hemauer, and Ben Askren. Former Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá tweeted using the hashtag "#GomezGotRobbed". Meanwhile, current Governor Alejandro García Padilla vowed to protest what he called a "theft" to the sport.

Shortly after the fight, at least three officers in charge of the match were suspended by United World Wrestling because of "suspicious officiating". They also claimed that an investigation would be done, but their decision couldn't be overturned. In September 3, 2016, it was announced that at least three officers were officially expelled from the UWW, without offering the reasons for the expulsion.

Match against Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran

During the second bronze medal match between Navruzov and Mongolia's Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran in the 65 kg freestyle wrestling caused controversy over Navruzov being awarded two penalty points toward the end of the match. During the final seconds, Mandakhnaran held a lead of 7-6 and began celebrating before the match had concluded. In response, Navruzov was awarded a penalty point for Mandakhnaran "failing to engage" during the end of the match, which resulted in Navruzov winning the bronze due to scoring the last point. The Mongolian coaches protested the point, which could not be challenged, by stripping in front of the judges on the mat, resulting in a shoe being sent into the judges' table. Navruzov would be awarded a second penalty point as the coaches were escorted away from the mat, leading to the final score being 7-8.