Viktor Efteni

Wiktor Efteni (born February 2, 1973 ) is a former Ukrainian wrestler . He was an Olympian in 1996, European champion in 1996 and won a bronze medal in free style in light flyweight at three other European championships .

Career

Wiktor Efteni began wrestling as a teenager in 1983. He concentrated on the free style. His club was champion Kiev and he was trained by Ignal Grek and Boris Savlochow. The 1.52 meter tall athlete always started in the lightest weight class in men's wrestling, the light flyweight , which had its weight limit of 48 kg. For economic reasons he went to Germany in 1994 and competed in the German Bundesliga for the clubs KSV Witten , AC Siegfried Heusweiler , TuS Adelhausen and SV Germania Weingarten until 2006 . After the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , he was no longer considered for the Ukrainian national team. But now (2012) he is one of the coaches of the Ukrainian national wrestling team.

He made his debut on the international wrestling mat at the Junior European Championship (Juniors) in Istanbul in 1991 , where he won the title in the weight class up to 50 kg ahead of Mevlana Kulac from Turkey. In 1992 he came at the Junior European Championships (Espoirs) in Székesfehérvár in the light flyweight behind Armen Mkrtchyan , Armenia and Juri Senek, Russia , on the 3rd place.

In 1993 he started for the first time at an international senior championship. He won a bronze medal at the European Championships in Istanbul behind Marian Nedkow , Bulgaria and Ilyas Sükrüoglu , Turkey, but ahead of Reiner Heugabel , Germany. In the same year he was also at the Junior World Championships (Espoirs) in Athens at the start and was there behind arms Mkrtchyan Vice World Champion .

In 1994 Wiktor Efteni won a bronze medal at the European Championships in Rome with a 3rd place behind Armen Mkrtchyan and Reiner Heugabel. At the World Cup in Istanbul in 1994, he was eliminated very early and only came in 11th place.

He then won another bronze medal again at the 1995 European Championships in Friborg / Switzerland . Only Wugar Orudschow , Russia and Laszlo Ovary , Hungary placed in front of him.

In 1996 Wiktor Efteni landed the greatest success in his wrestling career. He was European light flyweight champion in Budapest , relegating Armen Mkrtchyan and Wugar Orudschow to the places. At the end of his international wrestling career, he took part in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He had drawn a very difficult lot there. In his first fight he defeated the world and European champion Wugar Orudschow, but then lost to the 1992 Olympic champion Kim Il-ong from North Korea . After a victory over Luwsan-Ischiin Sergelenbaatar from Mongolia, he lost to another world champion, Alexis Vila from Cuba, in his fourth fight . He was eliminated and only came in 10th place.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1991	1.	Junior European Championship (Juniors) in Istanbul	up to 50 kg	in front of Mevlana Kulac, Turkey and Michele Liuzzi, Italy
1992	3.	Junior European Championship (Espoirs) in Székesfehérvár	Half flying	behind Armen Mkrtchyan, Armenia and Juri Senek, Russia
1993	3.	EM in Istanbul	Half flying	behind Marian Nedkow, Bulgaria and Ilyas Sükrüoglu, Turkey
1993	1.	German Grand Prix in Leipzig	Half flying	before Jochen Richter and Reiner Heugabel, both Germany
1993	2.	Junior World Championships (Espoirs) in Athens	Half flying	behind Armen Mkrtchyan, in front of Nurdin Donbajew, Kyrgyzstan
1994	3.	EM in Rome	Half flying	behind Armen Mkrtchyan and Reiner Heugabel, in front of Laszlo Ovary, Hungary and Georgi Christow, Bulgaria
1994	11.	World Cup in Istanbul	Half flying	Winner: Alexis Vila Perdomo ahead of Jung Soon-won , South Korea
1995	3.	EM in Friborg / Switzerland	Half flying	behind Wugar Orudschow, Russia and Laszlo Ovary
1996	8th.	German Grand Prix in Leipzig	Half flying	Winner: Alexis Vila Perdomo ahead of Wugar Orudschow
1996	1.	EM in Budapest	Half flying	in front of poor Mkrtchyan and Wugar Orudschow
1996	10.	OS in Atlanta	Half flying	after a win over Wugar Orudschow, a loss to Kim Il-Ong, North Korea, a win over Luvxan Sergelenbayar, Mongolia and a loss to Alexis Vila Perdomo

Explanations

• all free style competitions
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
• Half flyweight, weight class up to 48 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• Foeldeak Wrestling Database website

Web links

• Wiktor Efteni in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )