Šaban Trstena

Freestyle wrestler Šaban Trstena (born in Skoplje on 1 January 1965) is one of Yugoslavia’s youngest Olympic champions and medallists. His first coach was Mentar Ajajbeg, and all of his international successes were achieved under the coaching of Nase Nasev. He was a member of “Lirije” (Skoplje).
Trstena won a number of the Yugoslav champion titles and stands out as a Yugoslav national team athlete that won medals at all of the major championships. He was a Balkan champion in Pula in 1981 and again in Istanbul in 1982; a Mediterranean champion in Casablanca in 1983; a European champion in Yencheping in 1984 (he also medalled several European silvers and bronzes). He won his first world championship medal, a bronze, as a seventeen-year old in 1982.
At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles in under 52 kg finals, Trstena did not have an opponent, because Kim Jong-kyu (South Korea) was unable to fight due to a shoulder injury sustained in a semifinal match that morning. However, this did not lessen the success of the nineteen-year old Yugoslav who had already, on his way to the finals, overcome five opponents (three falls), one of which was the major favourite, a five-time world champion and the 1976 Olympic champion Takada of Japan.
At the 1988 Games in Seoul, Trstena proved his worth by winning a silver medal, suffering his first and only defeat in the final fight when he lost to Japan’s Sato. The cause of the defeat in the final was a severe knee injury sustained in the semifinal match with Toguzov (USSR), but the Yugoslav wrestler refused to follow doctor’s advice and withdraw, possibly due to the fact that he had been awarded the Olympic gold at the previous Games by default.