Olympic silver medallist shot in Russia

Makhachkala (Russia), Feb 18 (IANS): A Russian wrestler who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was hospitalised with gunshot wounds Sunday in the country’s troubled southern province of Dagestan, his coach told RIA Novosti.

Bakhtiyar Akhmedov, who lost the final of the 120kg division to Artur Taymazov in Beijing, was shot in the stomach and taken to a clinic in the capital Makhachkala, his coach said.

“The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” Imammurza Aliev said.

Local police told RIA Novosti only that a man by the name of Bakhtiyar had been admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds.

There were no other details.

Gun violence in Dagestan is common. The province is Russia’s poorest and suffers from an illusive Islamist insurgency that spilled over after two wars in nearby Chechnya.