Chasame SAFIN

Shazam Safin was born to a Tatar family and was acquainted with the Tatar traditional wrestling style of köräş from a young age. His family moved to Moscow in 1939 and Safin took up Greco-Roman wrestling in 1947. The biggest achievement for Safin as a wrestler came at the 1952 Olympics, where he, a virtually unknown wrestler, won gold in Greco-Roman lightweight. Before the Olympics, Safin had only won bronze at the Soviet Championships, in 1951 in Greco-Roman lightweight and in 1952 in Greco-Roman welterweight, which would remain his only medals at the Soviet Championships. In 1953, to conclude his career, Safin won bronze at the World Championships in Greco-Roman lightweight.