Jigjidiin Mönkhbat

Jigjidiin Mönkhbat (Template:Langx; 1 June 1941 – 9 April 2018) was a Mongolian wrestler. Mönkhbat is the undefeated 1968 Olympic vice-champion in the 87 kg.

Mönkhbat placed fourth in the middleweight (87 kg) division at the 1966 World Wrestling Championships, having lost the bronze medal match, however, he defeated the reigning three-time World Champion and the strongest 1964 Olympic wrestler Mansour Mehdizadeh of Iran in the first match. At the 1967 World Wrestling Championships Mönkhbat held a bronze medal after defeating Majid Aghili of Iran. At the 1968 Summer Olympics he won the silver medal in the men's Freestyle Middleweight category (87 kg), behind gold medalist Boris Michail Gurevich of the Soviet Union and ahead of bronze medalist Prodan Gardzhev of Bulgaria. However, Mönkhbat left the tournament as undefeated wrestler, his results in the Olympics were 4 wins, 2 draws, and 0 losses:

Round	Opponent	Сountry	Results	Penalties	Time
1	Peter Döring	Template:Flagicon	Won by Points	1
2	Raúl García	Template:Flagicon	Won by Fall (TF)	0	(1:17)
3	Jean-Marie Chardonnens	Template:Flagicon	Won by Technical Superiority	0,5
4			Bye	0
5	Prodan Gardzhev	Template:Flagicon	Draw	2
6	Boris Gurevich	Template:Flagicon	Draw	2
7	Tom Peckham	Template:Flagicon	Won by Points	1

Mönkhbat was a State Grand Champion in bökh, a top rank in the sport, with six Naadam championship wins (1963–1967, 1974). His name Mönkhbat means "Eternal firm" in the Mongolian language.

Mönkhbat was the father of professional sumo wrestler Hakuhō Shō, who held the top rank of yokozuna in that sport before retiring. His son Hakuhō regards his six Nadaam championships as the equivalent of 36 tournament championships in sumo (as sumo tournaments are held six times a year) and used that as motivation to keep going even after passing Taihō's record of 32 championships.

Legacy

In bökh, Mönkhbat won five consecutive tournaments, a feat matched by only two other athletes in the modern history of the sport since 1922.

Mönkhbat's statue was erected in his honor and in celebration of his achievements on July 21, 2021, in his hometown of Erdenesant, Tuv Province, Mongolia. The event also marked the 100th anniversary of Erdensant sum. His student and fellow State Grand Champion Gelegjamtsyn Ösökhbayar attended the opening ceremony.

External links

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