Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani athlete Rasul Chunayev at 71kg has continued to conquer the wrestling world by becoming World Champion at the 2015 World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas.

Supported by numerous Azerbaijani fans, 24-year-old Rasul confidently beat American Justin Dashauna-Leicester and Belarusian Timur Berdyev. In the final, he did not leave any chance for the Ukrainian representative, Armen Vardanyan.

Another Azerbaijani wrestler, Rovshan Bayramov, at 59kg won silver medal at the competition and secured a ticket to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

Chunayev, already world-renowned for his fast spinning hips and devastating headlocks, started wrestling at the age of nine, inspired by his coach.

Becoming a member of the national team in 2006, Chunayev brought many changes to the sports history of the country.

In 2008, the wrestler became European Champion. Chunayev was also the winner of the Summer Universiade in Kazan in 2013.

He won gold medal at the 1st European Games held in Baku this summer and became the first athlete to win gold while on active duty for the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

In his personal life, Chunayev expresses a love for dancing and his character is frequently described as laid-back and relaxed.

His most notable celebration came after Chunayev defeated Russian wrestler Islambek Albiev at the Universiade, when he performed the Azerbaijani lezginka, a traditional dance of the Caucasus, on the mat.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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