Saeid Mollaei

Saeid Mollaei
Mollaei at the 2018 Asian Games
Personal information
Born (1992-01-05) 5 January 1992
OccupationJudoka
Height176 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Sport
Country
SportJudo
Weight class–81 kg
Rank     5th dan black belt
Coached byMehrdad Hasanzadeh
Mohammad Mansouri
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games (2020)
World Champ. (2018)
Asian Champ. (2017, 2018)
Medal record
Men's judo
Representing  Azerbaijan
World Masters
2022 Jerusalem ‍–‍81 kg
IJF Grand Slam
2022 Baku ‍–‍81 kg
2022 Budapest ‍–‍81 kg
2023 Antalya ‍–‍81 kg
IJF Grand Prix
2022 Zagreb ‍–‍81 kg
2024 Odivelas ‍–‍81 kg
Representing  Mongolia
Olympic Games
2020 Tokyo ‍–‍81 kg
Asian Championships
2021 Bishkek ‍–‍81 kg
IJF Grand Slam
2021 Tel Aviv ‍–‍81 kg
2020 Budapest ‍–‍81 kg
Representing  Iran
World Championships
2018 Baku ‍–‍81 kg
2017 Budapest ‍–‍81 kg
Asian Games
2018 Jakarta ‍–‍81 kg
Asian Championships
2017 Hong Kong ‍–‍81 kg
2015 Kuwait City ‍–‍81 kg
2016 Tashkent ‍–‍81 kg
IJF Grand Slam
2018 Düsseldorf ‍–‍81 kg
2017 Baku ‍–‍81 kg
2017 Abu Dhabi ‍–‍81 kg
2018 Ekaterinburg ‍–‍81 kg
2019 Paris ‍–‍81 kg
IJF Grand Prix
2019 Hohhot ‍–‍81 kg
2015 Samsun ‍–‍81 kg
2015 Ulaanbaatar ‍–‍81 kg
2017 Tbilisi ‍–‍81 kg
2017 The Hague ‍–‍81 kg
2019 Zagreb ‍–‍81 kg
Asian Junior Championships
2011 Beirut ‍–‍73 kg
Islamic Solidarity Games
2017 Baku ‍–‍81 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF68901
JudoInside.com81144
Updated on 27 January 2024

Saeid Mollaei (Persian: سعید ملایی; Mongolian: Саид Моллай; Azerbaijani: Səid Mollayi; born January 5, 1992) is an Iranian-born Mongolian half-middleweight judoka. He was born in Tehran to ethnic Azerbaijani parents originally from Khoy. Iranian authorities ordered Mollaei to lose intentionally in the semi-final at the Tokyo 2019 World Championships, so as to avoid a potential match in the finals against Israeli 2019 world champion Sagi Muki. In August 2019, he moved to Europe with a two-year visa from Germany, saying he was afraid to return to Iran after exposing and criticizing its pressure on him to deliberately lose in the World Championships. In December 2019, he became a citizen of Mongolia. He dedicated his 2020 Olympic medal to Mongolia, to the Mongol people, and to Israel. From May 2022 on, Mollaei represents Azerbaijan.