Career
Aliev reached sporting headlines at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South of Korea, where he picked up a bronze medal over neighboring Uzbekistan"s Aslan Sanakoev in the men"s light heavyweight category (84 kg) with a 3–1 decision. A year later, he captured a silver at the 2003 Asian Wrestling Championships in Delhi, India, losing 2–3 to Iran"s Pejman Dorostkar. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Aliev qualified for his naturalized Tajik squad in the men"s 84 kg class.
Earlier in the process, he placed second and guaranteed a spot on the Tajik wrestling team from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Aliev started the four-man prelim pool with a pair of marvelous victories over four-time Olympic veteran Nicolae Ghiţă of Romania (3–4) and Senegal"s Matar Sène (3–6), before being edged out by Russia"s Sazhid Sazhidov in a more complacent 5–0 decision. Placing second in the pool and eighth overall, Aliev"s performance was not enough to advance him to the quarterfinals.
