Robby Smith Awarded Bronze Medal from 2015 World Championships

USA Wrestling has been notified by United World Wrestling that Robby Smith of Concord, Calif., will receive a bronze medal at 130 kg in Greco-Roman from the 2015 Senior World Championships due to an anti-doping violation by one of his opponents.

Smith originally finished in fifth place at the event, which was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. He wrestled to a 3-2 record, making it to the World semifinals with impressive wins over Muminjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan, Eduard Popp of Germany and Murat Ramonov of Kyrgyzstan. He was defeated by now five-time Olympic champion Mijain Lopez Nunez of Cuba in the semifinals and dropped a 10-8 bout to 2012 Olympic champion and three-time World champion Bilyal Makhov of Russia in one of the more iconic Greco-Roman matches in U.S. history.

Makhov has been disqualified retroactively, with his wins from the event being vacated. This result upgrades Smith to the bronze medal position in the standings. A bronze medal from the 2015 Senior World Championships is being sent to USA Wrestling and will be presented to Smith at the 2026 U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas.

“I’ve always felt I won that match [with Makhov]. It was the match that put me on the map,” Smith said. “Now that I have a World medal from this, it’s a great way to sum up my career. It’s a cornerstone of my career, from my best tournament of career. This is validating and means a lot.”

Smith joins his longtime teammate and friend Andy Bisek, the current coach of Northern Michigan’s Greco-Roman program, as Greco-Roman bronze medalists at the 2015 Senior World Championships. Bisek earned bronze at 75 kg. The U.S. medal count from the event is bumped up to eight—three in men’s freestyle, three in women’s freestyle and two in Greco-Roman.

With a World medal official in tow, Smith cements his legacy as one of the U.S. Greco-Roman greats. He competed at the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was a four-time U.S. Senior World Team member (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017), placing 11th or better on each occasion. He was a six-time Pan American medalist with a gold medal coming in 2015. Smith represented the New York Athletic Club for the bulk of his Senior-level career.

Smith currently serves as coach at Community Youth Center (CYC) in Concord, Calif., where he also trained in his youth. He remains very active with the volunteer structure of USA Wrestling, dedicating many hours giving back to athletes, coaches and others involved with the organization. He also serves on the USA Wrestling Board of Directors and is involved in several volunteer committees that help shape the future of the sport in the U.S.