Uzbekistan’s cherished head boxing coach was revived from what seemed to be a cardiac arrest on Thursday by two members of Britain’s training staff after celebrating his team’s first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, as confirmed by his fighters on Saturday night.
The Uzbek team went on to win five gold medals—more than any Olympic team in the last 20 years—as a tribute to Tulkin Kilichev, who is now recovering in a Paris hospital.
“(Kilichev) is more than a coach or a father, in fact,” Bakhodir Jalolov said after winning his second super heavyweight gold medal. “He has raised us. He educated us. He has transmitted the sports spirit to us. He has been with me in my heart, and tomorrow we will be going to visit him in the hospital.”
Kilichev became ill backstage after flyweight Hasanboy Dusmatov won Uzbekistan’s first gold medal on Thursday. According to GB Boxing, team doctor Harj Singh and physical therapist Robbie Lillis found Kilichev in serious distress.
They performed CPR on him, and Lillis also used a defibrillator, the team said.
Jalolov mentioned that Kilichev stayed in touch with the team over the past two days while he was recovering, and his fighters responded with an outstanding performance.
Jalolov was the last of Uzbekistan’s five Paris champions to take the podium on Saturday night, marking the best Olympic performance since Cuba also won five golds at the 2004 Athens Games. Uzbekistan won the last five men’s gold medal bouts held at Roland Garros, starting with Dusmatov on Thursday—a victory that was followed by the alarming incident with Kilichev.
“This is history for Uzbekistan, and I’m emotional because becoming a two-time Olympic champion was my dream,” Jalolov said. “Now I feel very happy, and I will continue my career as a professional boxer.”
Lazizbek Mullojonov won the heavyweight title on Friday night, joining a distinguished Olympic lineage in that weight category including Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Teofilo Stevenson, Felix Savon, and Oleksandr Usyk.
