Ilya Mate

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Fedorovych and the family name is Mate.

Ilya Mate

Mate receiving an arm massage in-between the periods of his Olympic match, 25 July 1980
Personal information
Born	6 October 1956 (1956-10-06) (age 68) Starohnativka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Alma mater	Makiivka Civil Engineering Institute
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	100 kg (220 lb)
Sport
Sport	Freestyle wrestling
Club	Kolos Donetsk
Medal record Representing the Soviet Union Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 100 kg World Championships 1979 San Diego 100 kg 1982 Edmonton 100 kg 1981 Skopje 100 kg European Championships 1979 Bucharest 100 kg

Illya Fedorovych Mate (spelled Maté, Russian: Илья Фёдорович Мате, IPA: [ɪˈlʲjæ maˈtɛ], born 6 October 1956) is a retired Soviet and Ukrainian freestyle wrestler. He won gold medals at the 1980 Olympics and 1979 and 1982 world championships, finishing third in 1981. Mate was reputed for his deceitfully flabby appearance, which misled his opponents into thinking of him as of an "easy prey," as well as for his springy sudden movements and the mat generalship, avoiding flukes, and providing no "chinks in the armor" for his opponents.

Biography

Early years

Mate was born to a Greek father and Ukrainian mother. He began training in kuresh wrestling while studying in a secondary school.

Prime years

Mate (in red) goes for a double leg takedown on Július Strnisko

He took up freestyle wrestling in 1970 and won the Soviet heavyweight title in 1978–80 and 1982.

Retirement and later years

After retiring from competitions he worked as a private entrepreneur in Donetsk, and remained involved with the Donetsk Wrestling Federation. Since 2003, an annual junior freestyle wrestling tournament has been held in Donetsk Oblast in his honor.

External links

• Ilya Mate at the International Wrestling Database
• Ilya Mate at Olympedia