Besik Kudukhov

In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Serodinovich and the family name is Kudukhov.

Besik Serodinovich Kudukhov (Russian: Бесик Серoдинович Кудухов, Ossetian: Къудухты Серодины фырт Бесик; 15 August 1986 – 29 December 2013) was a Russian freestyle wrestler of Ossetian descent. He won a bronze medal in the 55 kg category at the 2008 Olympics. He also won a silver medal in the 60 kg category at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[2]

Besik Kudukhov
Бесик Кудухов

Personal information
Birth name	Бесик Серодинович Кудухов
Full name	Besik Serodinovich Kudukhov
Nationality	Russian
Born	(1986-08-15)15 August 1986 Tskhilon, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	29 December 2013(2013-12-29) (aged 27) Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Height	164 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Sport
Country	Russian
Sport	Wrestling
Weight class	55-60 kg
Event	Freestyle
Club	SC Alany[2] CSKA Moscow[1]
Coached by	Valentin Gozoev Aleksey Safronov[1]
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	(2012) (2008)
World finals	(2007) (2009) (2010) (2011) (2006)
Regional finals	(2007)
Medal record Representing  Russia Men's freestyle wrestling Olympic Games 2012 London 60 kg 2008 Beijing 55 kg World Championships 2007 Baku 55 kg 2009 Herning 60 kg 2010 Moscow 60 kg 2011 Istanbul 60 kg 2006 Guangzhou 55 kg World Cup 2011 Makhachkala 60 kg 2010 Moscow 60 kg 2006 Sari 55 kg 2009 Tehran 60 kg European Championships 2007 Sofia 55 kg World Juniors Championships 2005 Vilnius 55 kg European Cadets Championships 2003 Skopje 50 kg Representing North Ossetia Russian National Championships 2012 St.Petersburg 60 kg 2011 Yakutsk 60 kg 2010 Volgograd 60 kg 2009 Kazan 60 kg 2006 Nishnevartovsk 55 kg 2013 Krasnoyarsk 60 kg Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2008 Krasnoyarsk 55 kg 2007 Krasnoyarsk 55 kg

Career

Kudukhov took up wrestling in 1995 and was selected for the Russian national team in 2005. He was an Olympic finalist in 2012 and was considered one of the most dominant wrestlers in modern wrestling history. He was a world champion four times across two weight classes winning every world championship he competed in from 2007 to 2011. He was a finalist in the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China at the age of 20. He was also a European Champion in 2007.^[2][1]

Death

Kudukhov died on 29 December 2013 in a car crash on a federal highway in southern Russia between Krasnodar Krai and Vladikavkaz after he lost control of his car and collided with an oncoming truck.^[2][3]

Doping

On 29 August 2016, a report indicated that a retested sample for Kudukhov taken at the time of the 2012 Olympic 60 kg freestyle wrestling event had returned a positive result (later disclosed as dehydrochlormethyltestosterone).^[4]

On 27 October 2016, the IOC stated that the fact that Kudukhov had died was not known at the time the decision to include his samples in the re-analysis process was made.

Consequently, the IOC dropped all disciplinary proceedings: such proceedings cannot be conducted against a deceased person, meaning Olympic results that would have been reviewed will remain uncorrected as the proceedings cannot move forward.^[5] In any event, bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt had earlier refused to accept the silver medal, expressing his wish for Kudukhov's family to retain it.^[6]