Takedown Report

If anyone deserves an Olympic medal, it’s Tervel Dlagnev

Tervel Dlagnev did it the right way. Dlagnev’s remarkable journey as an elite wrestler now has a fitting final chapter. When it was announced this week that Dlagnev is expected to be awarded a bronze medal for the 2012 Olympic Games, the news was met with an abundance of positive responses in the United States and beyond. And with good reason.

There is nobody more deserving of an Olympic medal than Dlagnev. He’s truly one of the good guys in the sport who relied on a strong work ethic and determined approach in his pursuit to be the best. He didn’t cheat. And he didn’t take any shortcuts. He did it the right way. Dlagnev likely will move into the bronze-medal spot for the 2012 London Games after Uzbekistan’s Artur Taymazov tested positive for a prohibited substance during a re-analysis of his sample. Taymazov had beaten Dlagnev in the semifinals en route to winning Olympic gold in 2012.

Taymazov earlier lost his 2008 Olympic gold medal after a 2017 re-analysis of the drug tests from that Olympic Games in Beijing, China. While wrestlers continue to be stripped of medals for failed drug tests, there are guys like Dlagnev who should be celebrated for doing it the right way. Many of you already know his remarkable story. He was born in Bulgaria and moved to the United States with his family when he was 4 years old. Dlagnev didn’t start wrestling until he was in high school in Arlington, Texas. He went out for wrestling to lose weight and ended up placing third and fourth in the Texas state tournament. Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22175?mc_cid=449a2bee4b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

July 25, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized