Vladimir Gladkikh
| Year of birth | Place of birth | Clubs | Athletic title | Trainers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Uvelsky settlement Chelyabinsk region |
UMMC Sambo Club (Verkhnyaya Pyshma) |
Merited Master of Sports |
Valery Glebovich Stennikov Alexander Melnikov |
A native of Chelyabinsk region, Vladimir Gladkikh aggrandized UMMC Sambo Club in 2016 (Verkhnyaya Pyshma). He got into wrestling at the age of eight in the local Children’s and Youth Sports School in his native Uvelsky settlement. His coach was I.A. Abdurakhmanov. As he recalls, his first award was a bronze medal that he won in the 2000 Youth Tournament “Druzhba” (that was typical of Uvelsky sambo). The talented sambo wrestler showed his worth at Youth Championships: he became the 2009 European Championship and the 2010 World Championship winner, which was followed closely by his triumph at the 2011 European Junior Sambo Championship and the 2012 World Championship.
His greatest achievements at Adult Championships, which he has made to date, became possible due to his switch to UMMC Sambo Club. Since 2017, he has successively become a 4-time Russian Championship silver medalist. In 2017 and 2019, he won the European Championship. In 2017, Vladimir became the World Cup silver medalist. Due to his silver medal at the Russian Championship, he was supposed to represent our country at the European Championship, which was expected to take place in Ekaterinburg. However, the notorious COVID-19 pandemic turned the tide. The 2020 European Championship has been cancelled, but the future had the World Championship in Novi Sad in store for Vladimir since the national team leader, the national champion Sayan Khertek was sidelined with health issues. Our athlete made the most of the situation and reached the summit of global success at first attempt.
In 2021, having successively become the Russian Championship Silver Medalist, Vladimir won the third European Championship in his career and levelled up to the legendary clubmate Dmitry Lebedev in terms of these awards.
He graduated from the South Ural State University. Married, and has a daughter. In his free time, he likes going mushrooming and walking in the forest.
Landmark achievements
- World Champion (2020)
- European Champion (2017, 2019, 2021)
- World Cup Silver Medalist (2017)
- Russian Championship Silver Medalist (2017-2021)
- World Junior Sambo Champion (2012)
- European Junior Sambo Champion (2011)