The famous freestyle wrestler in his sports career managed to play for the national teams of the Soviet Union and Ukraine. Dzambolat Tedeev successfully worked as the head coach of the Russian national freestyle wrestling team from 2001 to 2012, then resigned of his own free will and returned in 2016. He has two citizenships - Russian and South Ossetian. Actively involved in the political life of South Ossetia.
early years
Dzambolat Ilyich Tedeev was born on August 23, 1968 in the then Georgian city of Tskhinvali. The family of Ilya and Olga Tedeeva had two sons. Dzambolat had a younger brother, Ibrahim, who was shot dead in Vladikavkaz in 2006. In memory of him, Tedeev named his youngest son.
He spent his childhood in his hometown. From the age of 11, like many Ossetian boys, he began to engage in freestyle wrestling. Successes came to a gifted child fairly quickly. Four years later (in 1982), Dzambolata was enrolled in the junior team of the Soviet Union. At the age of fifteen, a young wrestler moves to Moscow. In the Soviet capital, he played for the army team, from which he later ended up in the national team. Among the sports achievements of Dzambolat Tedeev of those years are three Cups of the country, won in 1988, 1989 and 1990, in weight up to 90 kg. And in 1990 he became one of the last champions of the country.
After adjustment
With the outbreak of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, Dzambolat Tedeev went to war. As he himself says, he was 22 years old, yet neither his wife nor his children, did not think about death - he simply walked forward.
After the cessation of active hostilities, he moved to Kiev. Where he began to speak for an independent Ukraine. He won his first international title in 1993, becoming the European champion. It was the first gold medal in the new history of the country. In subsequent years, Dzambolat Tedeev in the freestyle wrestling played for the Ukrainian team in all major international tournaments. True, he did not achieve much success: at the World Championships in freestyle wrestling and at the Olympic Games in Atlanta he failed to take a prize.
His cousin Elbrus Tedeev also lived in Kiev at that time . Which also was a member of the national team in freestyle wrestling, but became an Olympic champion. Later he got involved in politics, was elected to the Verkhovna Rada. Dzambolat Tedeev in an interview said that he had become attached to Ukraine over the years spent in Kiev, and considers this country to be his second Motherland after Ossetia.
Return to Moscow
After completing his sports career, Dzambolat Tedeev moved to Russia, where he got a job as a coach in his native CSKA in Moscow. About a year later, in 2001, at the suggestion of Mikhail Mamiashvili, president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, he was appointed head coach of the Russian freestyle wrestling team. According to Mamiashvili, these were very difficult times for sports. And in such a troubled time, a young, inexperienced coach came and presented unforgettable victories of the Russian freestyle wrestling. Jumbo (as his friends and colleagues called it) was then supported by many distinguished coaches from various regions of the country.
In November of the same year, the national team played very successfully at the World Cup, having won four gold and one bronze medal. The following year he was awarded the honorary title "Honored Coach of Russia".
First steps in politics
In the same period, Dzambolat Tedeev took the first steps in politics. Thanks to the Tedeev’s clan, primarily Ilyich himself and his brother businessman Ibragim Tedeev, Eduard Kokoity won the presidential election in South Ossetia. The future head of the unrecognized republic went to meetings with voters in Tedeev’s car and even lived at their home. And he held election campaigns in the Tedeev gym.
However, the election victory between the new president and the brothers deteriorated. And the Tedeev brothers were actually expelled from South Ossetia. According to some sources, Ibrahim began financing political opponents of Kokoity. In 2006, he was shot dead during a meeting at the Alandon restaurant in Vladikavkaz. According to Novaya Gazeta, the cause of the murder was a "customs showdown".
At the Beijing Olympics
In 2008, during the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, head coach Dzambolat Tedeev was with the Russian team at the Beijing Olympics. It was very difficult for him when he found out that an intensive shelling of Tskhinvali had begun. Three shells hit the Tedeev’s house, destroying half. His children and parents were hiding in the basement. Dzambolat Ilyich says that he actually lived these days with a telephone near his ear.
The Russian team habitually took the first team place, having won three gold medals. After the Olympics, the team together with the coach went to South Ossetia, delivering humanitarian aid.
Tedeev continued to work as head coach. Under his leadership, the Russian national freestyle wrestling team (men) always won the team event at the European and World Championships and the Olympic Games.
City scandal
The spring of 2011 in the biography of Dzambolat Tedeev stands out as a rather bright spot: there was a loud scandal on the Theater Square of Tskhinvali. According to local law enforcement officials, from one of the motorcade cars of 25 cars, they were obmaterili and showed indecent gesture. When the police stopped the convoy, it turned out that famous people were driving in this car: Tedeev, Mamiashvili and Anatoly Barankevich, the former Minister of Defense of South Ossetia. And according to fuses, supporters of Ilyich allegedly opened fire. Dzambolat himself categorically denies the presence of weapons and says that the police apologized, took autographs and carried out (to the border).
Mamiashvili also confirmed that members of the Russian national team, who were traveling in a convoy, had no weapons. After all, they passed the border and went through customs, and the incident itself called a provocation. The president of the federation explained the visit to South Ossetia by visiting the birthday of Ilya Tedeev. A criminal case was opened against Dzambolat on charges of openly insulting a government official.
Presidential election preparations
In the same month, amendments were made to the basic law of South Ossetia, according to which the residency qualification was introduced for the head of the republic. To become a presidential candidate, a citizen had to live more than 10 years on its territory. In fact, the changes were directed against Dzambolat Tedeev, who lost the opportunity to register as a candidate. Because by the nature of his work he spent a lot of time in Moscow.
Back in 2009, it became known that the famous athlete was going to participate in the election of the president of the republic. In the spring of 2011, Ilyich created the opposition Popular Front movement, uniting all opposition parties and movements. Tedeev Dzambolat Ilyich was to become a single candidate. The Russian press wrote that, judging by sources in the Government, the Russian authorities are going to bet on Tedeev in the presidential election. However, later, according to press reports, another candidate, the Minister of the Republic, Anatoly Bibilov, became the main Kremlin protege.
Registration denial
At the end of September 2011, the deadlines for making a decision to register Dzambolat Tedeev as a candidate for the post of president of the republic expired. According to the official version, supporters of the opposition leader made an attempt to forcibly seize the government building, where the meeting of the Central Election Commission of South Ossetia was held. According to another version, people gathered simply to support their policies. According to various estimates, from 150 to 2-5 thousand people took part in the rally. The siloviki dispersed the people, opening fire on top of their heads. However, associates of the famous fighter say that people dispersed only after the persuasion of Ilyich, who wanted to prevent riots.
On the same day, late at night, the CEC decided to deny Tedeyev registration as a candidate for the post of head of the republic due to the fact that he did not qualify for residency. The unrest continued for some time, more than 30 people were arrested, according to unofficial data - about a hundred. Russian citizens capable of destabilizing the situation were banned from entering the country.
Return to the national team
In October 2011, Dzambolat Tedeev, accompanied by the Republican state guard, left the territory of South Ossetia. In November of the same year, opposition candidate Alla Dzhioeva won, supported by Tedeev’s supporters. However, she failed to become president, the headquarters of the winning candidate was taken by assault by the security forces.
In 2012, Tedeev resigned as head coach of the Russian national team "for health reasons." They wrote that he was treated in Germany and therefore could not continue to lead the preparation of the team. However, many associated his departure from the activities of the team with political ambitions. In January 2016, Dzambolat Ilyich returned to the post of head coach.
personal information
Little is known about the family of Dzambolat Tedeev. In one interview, he said that he managed to get married and divorced, and that he has a bride. The famous wrestler has three children: two sons and a daughter. Boys sometimes come to the gym to practice a little. Whether they become fighters or not, it does not matter to him. The main thing is to grow decent and honest men. Relatives and close people call him Jumbo, colleagues - Ilyich, and in the team - Dzambolat Ilyich. Many journalists were interested in patronymic, unusual for Ossetians, but, according to Tedeev, everything is very simple. Many in the republic had Russian names: no one looked at nationality in the Soviet country.
The wrestler himself says that his house is the Soviet Union, which still exists in his soul. Tskhinvali is the motherland, and so, in Moscow, it has long been living. He has many friends. Among the most faithful is Valery Gazaev, with whom they have been friends for more than 25 years. Tedeev became the godfather of his grandson. Another famous footballer who played for the Alania club, Bahva Tedeev is a relative of his. As the Ossetians themselves say, they are a small nation, therefore they do not have namesakes, but only relatives. Because the whole surname comes from one root.