Freestyle wrestler Beloglazov called Saitiev a legendary athlete.

"A legendary man, a legendary athlete, our close friend. We communicated well, we were friends in the same team and fought, and then I worked as a coach there, in this team. It's very, very sad," he said.

Beloglazov added that he had recently seen Saytiev in Moscow.

"We had such a good and warm conversation. He didn't say anything about the disease, nothing," the athlete noted.

Earlier that day, it became known that Buvaysar Saytiev died at the age of 49. Saitiev is one of the most decorated freestyle wrestlers. He became an Olympic champion at the Atlanta Games in 1996, took gold in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. In addition, he won the World and European Championships six times.