OLieutenant Nijas Ilyasov, judoka, has his birthday on August 10th. The Honored Master of Sports of Russia, bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, 2016 World Military Champion, third place at the 2019 World Military Games and the 2021 World Military Championships, turned 27 last year. The congratulations of his club, the Central Army Sports Club, can be found on its website cska.ru: “The leadership, coaches, athletes, veterans and employees of the Central Army Sports Club warmly congratulate Nijas and wish him health, happiness and well-being, self-confidence and Inspiration for conquering new heights. Achieve brilliant victories and records for the benefit of the Fatherland and CSKA!”
The task of conquering new heights has led Nijas Ilyasov to Qatar, where the World Championships are currently taking place, organized by the International Judo Federation. For the IJF, Nijas Ilyassow is a dove, not only because of the white judo clothes. Lieutenant Ilyasov is one of 19 Russian and Belarusian judoka who are on the mat in Doha as “Individual Neutral Athletes”. According to the review by the IJF, they neither belong to the respective army nor have they attracted attention by “actively supporting the war” against Ukraine.
