Shaban Trstena (Albanian: Shaban Tërstena, Macedonian: Шабан Трстена, romanizedŠaban Trstena; born 1 January 1965)[1] is a Macedonian-Yugoslavian former freestyle wrestler.

Shaban Trstena
Personal information
Nationality North Macedonia
 Yugoslavia
Born (1965-01-01) 1 January 1965 (age 59)
Skopje, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
Country Yugoslavia
SportFreestyle Wrestling
Weight class48-52-57 kg
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles 52 kg
Silver medal – second place 1988 Seoul 52 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Katowice 48 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1984 Jönköping 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1990 Poznan 52 kg
Silver medal – second place 1983 Budapest 52 kg
Silver medal – second place 1985 Leipzig 52 kg
Silver medal – second place 1986 Piraeus 52 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Varna 48 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Manchester 52 kg
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 1983 Casablanca 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 1987 Latakia 57 kg
Gold medal – first place 1991 Athena 62 kg

Trstena won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and also won the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.[2][3] Trstena is currently the youngest to win any wrestling gold at the Olympics, being 19 years of age at the Los Angeles Olympics.[4]

He would win in his wrestling career the 1984 European Championship and the 1990 European Wrestling Championship in Poznan. Trstena also won gold beating the then World Champion Valentin Yordanov.[5] Trstena would then win silver in 1983, 1985, 1986, and the bronze in 1982 and 1988.

In the 1982 World Wrestling Championships, Trstena reached bronze. During the three times he competed in the Mediterranean or Balkan Games, he won gold in all three. He has been pronounced the best Macedonian athlete many times and once, in 1984 the best athlete of Yugoslavia. In 2000 he has been also pronounced the best Albanian athlete of the last century. He has won 715 matches out of 741 fights. He participated in 42 tournaments in the world winning 30 gold medals, the remainder being silver and bronze. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 he won the fifth place.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Šaban Trstena". Olimpijski komitet Srbije. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013.
  2. ^ Singh, H (2004). 33 Olympic Games. Discovery Publishing House. ISBN 9788171417643.
  3. ^ Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill (2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7249-3.
  4. ^ Robinson, Alan (12 August 2008). "Russian teen Albiev wins 60 kg wrestling gold". Hindustan Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Saban Trstena v. Jordanov 1984 European Championships". YouTube.
Awards
Preceded by   The Best Athlete of Yugoslavia
1984
Succeeded by