Natalia Vorobieva

Vorobieva took up wrestling in her youth, despite some misgivings from her parents.[2] After winning a number of titles at youth level,[3][4][5][6][7][8] Vorobieva proceeded to succeed at senior level in the women's -72 kg freestyle division, beginning with a bronze medal at the 2012 European Championship.[9] Vorobieva won an unexpected gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she beat five-time World Champion Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria to win the gold medal.[2][10] She was the first Russian to win the -72 kg freestyle title.[11]

In the following, 2013, season, Vorobieva won silver in the women's -72 kg freestyle event at the World Championship, losing in the final to Zhang Fengliu.[12] Vorobieva won the European title, defeating Maider Unda in the final.[13]

Vorobieva dropped into the -69 kg division when the weight categories were changed at the start of the 2014 season.[14] Her first season in her new weight class brought a bronze at the World Championship, and victory at the European Championships (defeating Ilana Kratysh in the final).[15][16]

In the final of the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2015, Vorobieva defeated Ochirbatyn Nasanburmaa of Mongolia.[17] That year, she also won the World title in the women's -69 kg freestyle division, beating Zhou Feng in the final, and won a bronze medal at the European Games.[18][19]

At the 2016 Olympic Games, she competed in the -69 kg division, winning a silver medal after losing to Sara Dosho in the final.[20]

Vorobieva moved back up to the -72 kg division. 2019 was a very successful year for Vorobieva. She won the -72 kg freestyle World title, beating Alina Stadnik Makhinia in the final, and the -76 kg title at the 2019 World Military Games, beating Wang Juan of China in the final.[21][22]

In 2020, Vorobieva won the -72 kg freestyle European title, beating Maria Selmeier in the final.[23]

Vorobyeva has also trained with UFC and M-1 Global MMA fighters, such as Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, Mikhail Malyutin and Ali Bagov.[24]