Volodymyr Tohuzov was born in East Germany to a Soviet Army officer’s family and took up wrestling in 1978. Tohuzov, who competed as a flyweight freestyler his entire career, was selected for the Soviet national team in 1985, after he had won silver at the 1985 World Junior Championships. During his senior career, which spanned a decade until 1996, Tohuzov won Olympic bronze in 1988, was the European Champion in 1991, took silver at the 1987, 1988 and 1990 European Championships, captured silver and bronze at the 1989 and 1991 World Championships respectively and won the World Cup in 1986 and 1989. He also won Soviet titles in 1986-88, 1991, a CIS title in 1992 and gold at the 1986 Goodwill Games.
