Buvaisar Hamidovich Saitiev (Russian: Бувайсар Хамидович Сайтиев, Chechen: Сайт КIант Бувайса; 11 March 1975 – 2 March 2025) was a Russian wrestler and politician. His total of nine world-level gold medals (three Olympics, six World Championships) in freestyle wrestling is second highest, behind Aleksandr Medved's 10. Saitiev is widely considered to be the greatest freestyle wrestler of all time; in 2007, he and Greco-Roman practitioner Aleksandr Karelin were voted the best wrestlers in the history of the sport by FILA.
After his retirement from competition, Saitiev served as an acting deputy from Dagestan in the 7th State Duma from 2016 until he stepped down in 2021. In 2015, he became the President of the Chechen Wrestling Federation, a position he held until his death in 2025.
Infobox
Born
(1975-03-11)11 March 1975Khasavyurt, Dagestan ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died
2 March 2025(2025-03-02) (aged 49)Moscow, Russia
Height
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight
74 kg (163 lb)
Country
Russia
Sport
Wrestling
Event
Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 - - World Championships 6 - - Wrestling World Cup - - 1 European Championships 6 - - Total 15 0 1
