ATHLETES from Uzbekistan

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Uzbekistani Athletes of all time. This list of famous Uzbekistani Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Uzbekistani Athletes.

1. Radion Gataullin (1965 - )

With an HPI of 40.43, Radion Gataullin is the most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Radion Aksanovich Gataullin (Russian: Радио́н Аксанович Гатау́ллин; born on 23 November 1965) is a retired pole vaulter who represented the Soviet Union and later Russia. He is the 1988 Olympic silver medallist, the 1987 World bronze medallist, a two-time European champion (1990/94) and a two-time World Indoor champion (1989/93). He is also a former world indoor record holder with clearances of 6.00m and 6.02m in 1989.

2. Natalya Shikolenko (1964 - )

With an HPI of 36.94, Natalya Shikolenko is the 2nd most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Natalya Shikolenko (Belarusian: Натальля Шыкаленка; born August 1, 1964, in Andizhan, Soviet Union) is a javelin thrower who represented the Soviet Union and later Belarus. She won an Olympic silver medal and a World Championship gold. Her sister Tatyana Shikolenko is also a successful javelin thrower, first representing Belarus but switching to Russia in 1996.

3. Abdullo Tangriev (1981 - )

With an HPI of 34.21, Abdullo Tangriev is the 3rd most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Abdullo Tangriev (born 28 March 1981) is an Uzbek judoka. He won a silver medal in the +100 kg category at the 2008 Olympic Games.

4. Tatyana Kotova (1976 - )

With an HPI of 32.85, Tatyana Kotova is the 4th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Tatyana Vladimirovna Kotova (Russian: Татьяна Владимировна Котова, born 11 December 1976) is a track and field athlete who competed for Russia in the long jump. Her personal best jump of 7.42 m at Annecy in 2002, is the best distance achieved by a female long jumper in the 21st century (as of 2023). Kotova won bronze medals in the event at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. She won three consecutive silver medals at the World Championships in Athletics from 2001 to 2005, also taking bronze in 2007. She had even greater success indoors, where she won the World Indoor Championships on three occasions, in 1999, 2003 and 2006, as well as finishing as runner-up in 2001 and 2004. She was later stripped of her 2005 World silver and 2006 World Indoor title. Her other titles include wins at the 2002 European Championships and the 2002 IAAF World Cup. She was third at the 2001 Goodwill Games and was the jackpot winner of the 2000 IAAF Golden League.

5. Marina Shmonina (1965 - )

With an HPI of 31.39, Marina Shmonina is the 5th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Marina Shmonina (born 9 February 1965) is an athlete who represented the Soviet Union, and later Russia. She specialized in the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay. Born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Shmonina competed for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the heats of the relay competition. When the team of Yelena Ruzina, Lyudmila Dzhigalova, Olga Nazarova and Olga Bryzgina won the final, Shmonina was also awarded the gold medal. Shmonina was hailed in Uzbekistan as the first Uzbek athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

6. Hasanboy Dusmatov (1993 - )

With an HPI of 28.21, Hasanboy Dusmatov is the 6th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Hasanboy Marfjon Ugli Dusmatov (born 24 June 1993) is an Uzbekistani professional boxer. As an amateur, Dusmatov won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2013 Summer Universiade as a light flyweight. He is also a three-time Asian Amateur Boxing Champion.

7. Ruslan Nurudinov (1991 - )

With an HPI of 27.27, Ruslan Nurudinov is the 7th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ruslan Nurudinov (Uzbek: Ruslan Shamil'evich Nurudinov; born 24 November 1991) is an Uzbekistani weightlifter of Tatar ethnic origin. He is the first world champion for Uzbekistan in weightlifting (2013). Nurudinov won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, setting a new Olympic record in the clean and jerk at 237 kg.

8. Ulugbek Rashitov (2002 - )

With an HPI of 24.98, Ulugbek Rashitov is the 8th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ulugbek Rashitov (born 23 March 2002) is an Uzbekistani taekwondo practitioner. In 2021, he won the gold medal in the 68 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. In 2019, he won the gold medal in the 58 kg event at the Military World Games held in Wuhan, China.

9. Ikhtiyor Navruzov (1989 - )

With an HPI of 24.45, Ikhtiyor Navruzov is the 9th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ikhtiyor Navruzov (born 5 July 1989 in Bukhara) is an Uzbek freestyle wrestler. He competed in the 66 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and lost quarter finals match against India's Sushil Kumar. He is a silver 2015 World Wrestling Championships medalist in the 65 kg, gold medalist of 2018 Bishkek, 2 times (2011 Tashkent, 2017 New Delhi) silver medalist and 2 bronze medalist (2010 New Delhi, 2021 Almaty) of Asian Wrestling Championships.

10. Leilia Adzhametova (1994 - )

With an HPI of 23.54, Leilia Adzhametova is the 10th most famous Uzbekistani Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Leilia Adzhametova (born 3 September 1994) is a Ukrainian para-track and field athlete. Adzhametova competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in the T13 classification, winning a gold medal in the women's 100 metres T13 event and a bronze medal in the women's 400 metres T13 event. At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships she won gold medals in the women's 100 m T13 and women's 100 m T13 events and a bronze medal in the women's 400 m T13 event.