Biography

Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) had to switch countries to become one of the best wrestlers in his weight class. Born in Khasanya, Kabardino-Balkaria in Russia, he competed for them till 2019. But after failing to break into the senior team for a long time, he switched to Hungary from where he won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships and qualified the country for the Tokyo Games. En route to the bronze, he defeated Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) before losing to Ghazdimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) 3-2. In the bronze medal bout, he won 5-3 against defending world champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN). In 2020, he had a silver medal-winning run at the Individual World Cup in Serbia beating Haji ALIYEV (AZE) on the way. Muszukajev competed at 57-61kg and won the Ali Aliyev tournament three times before shifting to 65kg for Hungary.