Zhan Beleniuk

Zhan Vensanovych Beleniuk (Ukrainian: Жан Венсанович Беленюк, also transliterated Jean Vensanovich Belenyuk, born 24 January 1991) is a Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler and politician.

Zhan Beleniuk

Personal information
Full name	Zhan Vensanovych Beleniuk
Nationality	Ukrainian
Born	24 January 1991 Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Greco-Roman
Club	Spartak Kyiv
Coached by	Vitalyj Kisilisa Aleksej Dobrovolskyj Oleg Sazonov
Medal record Men's Greco-Roman wrestling Representing  Ukraine Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 85 kg World Championships 2015 Las Vegas 85 kg 2019 Nur-Sultan 87 kg 2018 Budapest 87 kg 2014 Tashkent 85 kg European Championships 2014 Vantaa 85 kg 2016 Riga 85 kg 2019 Bucharest 87 kg 2012 Belgrade 84 kg European Games 2019 Minsk 87 kg 2015 Baku 85 kg Summer Universiade 2013 Kazan 84 kg

Early life

Beleniuk was born in 1991 in Kyiv to a Ukrainian mother and a father from Rwanda. His father was a pilot who studied in Kyiv at the National Aviation University and died during the Rwandan Civil War.[1]

Beleniuk began wrestling in the year 2000 at 9 years of age.[2]

Career

In 2010 he won the silver medal at the Junior World Championships. In 2011, he became the Junior European Champion amongst, and won bronze at the World Championship.

In 2012, he won the bronze medal at the European Championships.

In 2013, he won bronze again at the Summer Universiade.

In 2014, he won a gold medal at the 2014 European Wrestling Championships,[3] and bronze at the World Championships.

In 2015, he won the silver medal at the first European Games in Azerbaijan.

On 10 September 2015, after winning against then the ruling World Champion and then Champion of Asia, the Uzbek Rustam Assakalov scoring 6:0, Beleniuk won gold at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in under-85 kg weight category.

In 2016, he won gold yet again at the 2016 European Wrestling Championships.

In 2016 he won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[4]

Politics

Beleniuk with President Volodymyr Zelensky in August 2019.

Beleniuk was elected a deputy to the Verkhovna Rada in July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election as a member of the Servant of the People political party.[5] He was under number 10.[6]

First Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports.[7]

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
2007	European Cadet Championships	Warsaw, Poland	2nd	Greco-Roman 76 kg
2008	European Cadet Championships	Daugavpils, Latvia	3rd	Greco-Roman 76 kg
2010	European Junior Championships	Samokov, Bulgaria	10th	Greco-Roman 84 kg
	World Junior Championships	Budapest, Hungary	3rd	Greco-Roman 84 kg
2011	European Junior Championships	Zrenjanin, Serbia	1st	Greco-Roman 84 kg
	World Junior Championships	Bucharest, Romania	2nd	Greco-Roman 84 kg
2012	European Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	3rd	Greco-Roman 84 kg
2013	European Championships	Tbilisi, Georgia	8th	Greco-Roman 84 kg
	Summer Universiade	Kazan, Russia	3rd	Greco-Roman 84 kg
2014	European Championships	Vantaa, Finland	1st	Greco-Roman 85 kg
	World Championships	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	3rd	Greco-Roman 85 kg
2015	European Games	Baku, Azerbaijan	2nd	Greco-Roman 85 kg
	World Championships	Las Vegas, United States	1st	Greco-Roman 85 kg
	Military World Games	Mungyeong, South Korea	1st	Greco-Roman 85 kg
2016	European Championships	Riga, Latvia	1st	Greco-Roman 85 kg
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brasil	2nd	Greco-Roman 85 kg
2018	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	Greco-Roman 87 kg
2019	European Championships	Bucharest, Romania	1st	Greco-Roman 87 kg
	European Games	Minsk, Belarus	1st	Greco-Roman 87 kg
	World Championships	Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan	1st	Greco-Roman 87 kg

World/Olympic Record

See also

• List of members of the parliament of Ukraine, 2019–24

References

1. Melkozerova, Veronika. (14 December 2018). Zhan Beleniuk: Champion wrestler refuses better offers abroad to stay at home: ‘I belong here’. Archived 24 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine Kyiv Post. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
2. Bagaterenko, Anton (31 May 2014). "Жан Беленюк: "В Африке я слишком светлый, в Украине – слишком темный"" [Zhan Beleniuk: "In Africa I was too light, and in Ukraine — too dark"]. Tribuna.com (in Russian). Ukraine. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
3. "Жан Беленюк: "Мне не раз предлагали выступать за другие сборные, но я — украинец"". fakty.ua. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
4. "The Olympic Team of Ukraine: Rio 2016: Official Handbook" (PDF). noc-ukr.org. National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. p. 28. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2020. Беленюк Жан / Belenyuk Jean
5. "Zelenskiy's Servant of the People party unveils candidates for parliament". Kyiv Post.
6. "First hundred candidates on Servant of the People's election list: who are they?". Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
7. "Prep group frames Rada committees' front office". Verkhovna Rada. 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.

External links

• Jean Vensanovich Beleniuk at Verkhovna Rada (in Ukrainian)
• Zhan Belenyuk at United World Wrestling
• Zhan Beleniuk at the International Olympic Committee
• Zhan Beleniuk at the Olympic Channel
• Zhan Beleniuk at Olympedia
• Zhan Beleniuk at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)