Zhan Beleniuk

Zhan Vensanovych Beleniuk (Жан Венсанович Беленюк; born 24 January 1991) is a Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler and politician. In 2019, he became the first black member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

Early life
Beleniuk was born in 1991 in Kyiv to a father from Rwanda and a mother from Ukraine. His father was a pilot who studied in Kyiv at the National Aviation University and died during the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda when Beleniuk was 3 years old.

Beleniuk began wrestling in 2000 when he was nine years old.

Career
In 2010, Beleniuk 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, 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, 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 at the 2016 European Wrestling Championships, followed by the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2021, he won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Beleniuk was briefly a member of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. He left the National Olympic Committee in January 2023 due to disagreement with its new President Vadym Gutzeit.

Politics
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. He was one of the first ten candidates on the party's electoral list.

International Competition
! colspan="8"| International Record ! Res. !  Record ! Opponent ! Score ! Date ! Event ! Location ! Notes ! style=background:white colspan=9 | 2021 Olympic Champion at 87kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 | 2021 European Championships at 87kg
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇭🇺 Viktor Lőrincz
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="font-size:88%"|2021-08-04
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2020 Summer Olympics
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4|🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left| Ivan Huklek
 * style="font-size:88%"|7-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3|2021-08-03
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left| Bachir Sid Azara
 * style="font-size:88%"|1-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇷🇸 Zurab Datunashvili
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇷🇸 Zurab Datunashvili
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-1
 * align=left|🇩🇪 Denis Kudla
 * style="font-size:88%"|1-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|2021-04-24
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2021 European Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4|🇵🇱 Warsaw, Poland
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-1
 * align=left| Vjekoslav Luburić
 * style="font-size:88%"|7-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Loss
 * 1-1
 * align=left|🇷🇸 Zurab Datunashvili
 * style="font-size:88%"|1-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2|2021-04-23
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇸🇪 Oskar Johansson
 * style="font-size:88%"|7-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇸🇪 Oskar Johansson
 * style="font-size:88%"|7-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|

! style=background:white colspan=9 | 2019 World Champion at 87kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 | 2019 European Games Champion at 87kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 | 2019 European Champion at 87kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 |2018 UWW world at 87kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 |2016 Olympic at 85kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 | 2016 European Champion at 85kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 |2015 UWW world at 85kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 |2015 European Games at 85kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 |2014 UWW world at 85kg ! style=background:white colspan=9 |2013 Summer Universiare at 84kg
 * Win
 * 5-0
 * align=left|🇭🇺 Viktor Lőrincz
 * style="font-size:88%"|2-1
 * style="font-size:88%"|2019-09-16
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2019 World Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5|🇰🇿 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇩🇪 Denis Kudla
 * style="font-size:88%"|2-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2019-09-15
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇧🇾 Mikalai Stadub
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left| Ivan Huklek
 * style="font-size:88%"|7-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇲🇽 Alfonso Leyva
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇲🇽 Alfonso Leyva
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇦🇿 Islam Abbasov
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="font-size:88%"|2019-06-30
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2019 European Games
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4|🇧🇾 Minsk, Belarus
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇧🇾 Radzik Kuliyeu
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3|2019-06-29
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇵🇱 Arkadiusz Kułynycz
 * style="font-size:88%"|9-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇦🇲 Maksim Manukyan
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇦🇲 Maksim Manukyan
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇦🇿 Islam Abbasov
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="font-size:88%"|2019-04-13
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2019 European Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4|🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇱🇹 Eividas Stankevičius
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3|2019-04-12
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇭🇺 Erik Szilvássy
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left| Ivan Huklek
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * 1-0
 * align=left| Ivan Huklek
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Loss
 * 4-1
 * align=left|🇹🇷 Metehan Başar
 * style="font-size:88%"|1-2
 * style="font-size:88%"|2018-10-27
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2018 World Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5|🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇦🇿 Islam Abbasov
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2018-10-26
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left| Hossein Nouri
 * style="font-size:88%"|4-2
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇦🇲 Artur Shahinyan
 * style="font-size:88%"|4-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇱🇹 Eividas Stankevičius
 * style="font-size:88%"|4-2
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇱🇹 Eividas Stankevičius
 * style="font-size:88%"|4-2
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Loss
 * 3-1
 * align=left|🇷🇺 Davit Chakvetadze
 * style="font-size:88%"|2-9
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2016-08-15
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2016 Summer Olympics
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4|🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇧🇾 Javid Hamzatau
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇧🇬 Nikolay Bayryakov
 * style="font-size:88%"|10-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇪🇬 Ahmed Othman
 * style="font-size:88%"|9-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇪🇬 Ahmed Othman
 * style="font-size:88%"|9-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left| Roberti Kobliashvili
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-2
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|2016-03-13
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4|European Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4| Riga, Latvia
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇱🇹 Laimutis Adomaitis
 * style="font-size:88%"|2-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇩🇪 Denis Kudla
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇸🇪 Kristofer Johansson
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇸🇪 Kristofer Johansson
 * style="font-size:88%"|5-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 6-0
 * align=left|🇺🇿 Rustam Assakalov
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-0
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6|2015-09-09
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=6|2015 World Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=6|🇺🇸 Las Vegas, NV
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 5-0
 * align=left|🇦🇿 Saman Tahmasebi
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇵🇱 Damian Janikowski
 * style="font-size:88%"|2-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇭🇺 Viktor Lőrincz
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇩🇪 Ramsin Azizsir
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇲🇽 Alfonso Leyva
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-2
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇲🇽 Alfonso Leyva
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-2
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Loss
 * 4-1
 * align=left|🇷🇺 Davit Chakvetadze
 * style="font-size:88%"|2-3
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2015-06-14
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2015 European Games
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5|🇦🇿 Baku, Azerbaijan
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-0
 * align=left|🇦🇲 Maksim Manukyan
 * style="font-size:88%"|12-4
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇹🇷 Metehan Başar
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇷🇴 Attila Tamas
 * style="font-size:88%"|7-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇷🇸 Dejan Franjković
 * style="font-size:88%"|8-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇷🇸 Dejan Franjković
 * style="font-size:88%"|8-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-1
 * align=left|🇩🇪 Ramsin Azizsir
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-0
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2014-09-12
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2014 World Championships
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5|🇺🇿 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Loss
 * 3-1
 * align=left|🇦🇿 Saman Tahmasebi
 * style="font-size:88%"|0-4
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left|🇪🇬 Ahmed Othman
 * style="font-size:88%"|10-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇨🇺 Pablo Shorey
 * style="font-size:88%"|6-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇫🇮 Rami Hietaniemi
 * style="font-size:88%"|1-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇫🇮 Rami Hietaniemi
 * style="font-size:88%"|1-0
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 4-1
 * align=left|🇰🇿 Nursultan Tursynov
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2013-07-15
 * style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5|2013 Summer Universiade
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5|🇷🇺 Kazan, Russia
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Loss
 * 3-1
 * align=left|🇦🇲 Maksim Manukyan
 * style="font-size:88%"|0-5
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 3-0
 * align=left| Beka Rokva
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 2-0
 * align=left|🇵🇱 Tadeusz Michalik
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇹🇷 Aslan Atem
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|
 * Win
 * 1-0
 * align=left|🇹🇷 Aslan Atem
 * style="font-size:88%"|3-1
 * style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;"|