Ihar Makarau

Olympic champion Ihar Makarau as a stamp motif

Ihar Viktarawitsch Makarau ( Belarusian Ігар Віктаравіч Макараў ; * July 20, 1979 in Homel ) is a former Belarusian judoka . In 2004 he was Olympic light heavyweight champion, 2010 European heavyweight champion.

Career

Makarau mostly competed in the light heavyweight (up to 100 kg) until 2006, from 2007 he started in the heavyweight (over 100 kg) or in the open class.

Makarau finished second in the Junior European Championships in 1997, and in 1998 he won this title. In 2000 he finished third in the light heavyweight division at the student world championships, but won the title in the open class. In 2001 he came third in the open class at the Universiade. In 2002 he took third place at the European Championships in Maribor. After losing to the Estonian Martin Padar in the semifinals , he won the battle for bronze against the Israeli Ariel Zeevi . The next day he won the silver medal in the team competition with the Belarusian team. In 2003 he lost in the semifinals of the European Championships against Ariel Zeevi, in the battle for bronze he defeated the German Daniel Gürschner . Makarau also won the bronze medal at the Judo World Championships in 2003 . After losing to the Italian Michele Monti early on , he fought his way through the hope round to the battle for bronze, which he won against the Canadian Nicolas Gill .

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Makarau defeated Elco van der Geest from the Netherlands in his fourth fight and was in the final. The fight against the South Korean Jang Sung-ho lasted for the full five minutes, after which Makarau was confirmed as the Olympic champion.

In 2005 Makarau won the Belarusian light heavyweight championship. In this weight class, he finished fifth at the 2006 European Championships. In 2007 he reached the final at the European Championships in the open class, where he lost to the Russian Alexander Michailin .

At the European Championships in 2009 he lost in the heavyweight semi- finals to the Dutchman Grim Vuijsters , the battle for bronze was won by Makarau against Janusz Wojnarowicz from Poland . In 2010 Makarau won his only Belarusian heavyweight championship. At the 2010 European Judo Championships , he defeated Janusz Wojnarowicz from Poland in the semifinals, and won the final against Barna Bor from Hungary . In 2012 Makarau took part in the Olympic Games again. At the Olympic tournament in London he was defeated in the quarter-finals against the South Korean Kim Sung-min , he lost the battle for bronze against the German Andreas Tölzer . In 2013 Makarau ended his sporting career.

Web links

• Ihar Makarau at JudoInside.com
• Ihar Makarau in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )