IM
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Olympic wrestler
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Male
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Birth:
6 October 1956(Starohnativka)
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The details
Biography
Illya Fedorovych Mate (Ukrainian: Ілля Федорович Мате, born 6 October 1956) is a retired Ukrainian freestyle wrestler. He won gold medals at the 1980 Olympics and 1979 and 1982 world championships, finishing third in 1981.
Mate was born to a Greek father and Ukrainian mother. He took up wrestling in 1970 and won the Soviet heavyweight title in 1978–80 and 1982. After retiring from competitions he worked as an entrepreneur in Donetsk, and remained involved with the Donetsk Wrestling Federation. Since 2003, an annual junior freestyle wrestling tournament has been held in Donetsk Oblast in his honor.