Dmitriy Lebedev

The Lebedev twin brothers formed one of the brightest tandems of the 2000s; however, sambo was surprisingly rich in such tandems at all times. Without them, any tournament would have been much more dull and predictable. Their memorable style, lightness of movement and ample technical arsenal allowed them to perform the most spectacular holds. Dmitriy was the first of the young UMMC Sambo Club cohort to win the national championship in 2005. And then he won three European Championship titles, a record for the club and the entire Urals.

Having become the winner of the World Cup in 2011, Ilya made the fans believe that he would finally rise to the top of Russian pedestal and repeat his youth world success. These expectations were fulfilled one hundred percent. The victory at the Russian national championship in 2014 in front of his wife, daughter, relatives and friends with the most spectacular throw which would have graced any sambo video tutorial - what a happy ending to a Hollywood-worthy story. Sadly, in the final of his long-awaited World Championship, already overage Lebedev was lacking in strength to defeat Amil Gasymov from Azerbaijan. Fate gave Ilya a second chance to storm the world top already in 2017, when he won the "home" national championship again, this time in Ekaterinburg. The result was a world bronze, but the applause was worthy of a champion. As always...

Today, the Lebedev brothers generously share their experience, organizing trademark masterclasses across the country, from Sochi to the Far East. And although both have finished their sporting careers, their fans are no less numerous.

Landmark achievements

• European Champion (2004, 2008, 2009) 
• World Championship bronze medalist (2010) 
• Champion of Russia (2005, 2010)