Elmadi Zhabrailov took up wrestling in 1980 and made the Soviet national team in 1988. Wrestling as a middleweight freestyler his entire career, Zhabrailov won Olympic silver in 1992 and was World Champion in 1989, European Champion in 1991 and Asian Champion in 1995. He also earned silver at the 1995 World Championships, silver and bronze at the 1990 and 1989 European Championships respectively, and gold at the 1997 East Asian Games. He was the Soviet Champion in 1989 and 1991 and CIS champion in 1992. After finishing his sporting career, Zhabrailov worked as a general director of the federal state institution Minmeliovodhoz.
