Ivan Sergeyevich Yarygin was born on November 7, 1948, in the village of Ust-Kamzas, Kemerovo Oblast, in a family of a blacksmith with many children. Later, the family moved to the village of Sizaya in the Krasnoyarsk Krai. In his childhood, Ivan did not engage in wrestling but was passionate about football, playing as a goalkeeper. After finishing school, he went to Abakan to train as a driver and played football for the local meat processing plant where he worked part-time. During one of the games, he was noticed by the coach of the local freestyle wrestling section, V. I. Charkov, who suggested he try his hand at wrestling.

In 1966, upon reaching draft age, Yarygin moved to Krasnoyarsk, where he began training under D. G. Mindyashvili, who already had experience preparing successful wrestlers. Mindyashvili arranged with the military enlistment office for Ivan to serve in Krasnoyarsk so he could continue training. During his service at the Krasnoyarsk Air Defense Radio Technical School, Yarygin won the Armed Forces of the USSR championship in sambo and received the title of Master of Sports. After his service, he fully focused on freestyle wrestling and quickly became one of the top athletes in the sport.

In 1968, Yarygin won the youth championships of Russia and the USSR in freestyle wrestling. His preparation for the 1970 USSR championship was under the guidance of Vladimir Gusev and Alexander Okhapkin. That same year, he became a prizewinner at the RSFSR championship and the champion of the USSR.

In 1971, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, Yarygin lost to Vladimir Gulyutkin from Kyiv, but then won the European Championship in Katowice, again becoming a candidate for the Olympic team. It was decided to send him to the Munich Olympics, as he was in excellent physical shape.

At the Munich Olympics in 1972, Yarygin set a record by winning all his matches in 8 minutes and 40 seconds, pinning his opponents. He also finished all bouts early at the 1972 European Championship in Katowice and the 1973 World Championship in Tehran. Yarygin became the only athlete in the history of freestyle wrestling to defeat all opponents in the three major competitions: the Olympics, the World Championship, and the European Championship.

After the Olympics, Yarygin experienced a decline and lost several major competitions. Deciding to end his career, he returned to the village of Sizaya and took a job as a lumberjack. Life in the taiga and physical work outdoors restored his confidence. In 1974, at the first absolute championship of the USSR in freestyle wrestling, Yarygin easily defeated all opponents, many of whom were larger than him.

For his powerful and aggressive wrestling style, he was nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible."

In July 1976, at the Olympics in Montreal, Yarygin won his second gold medal. The day before the competition, he broke two ribs but concealed this from the doctors and his coach, overcoming the pain to win the Olympics. He was entrusted with carrying the flag of the USSR team at the closing of the Olympics.

Yarygin won an international tournament in Tbilisi and the World Cup. At the age of 33, he became the head coach of the USSR freestyle wrestling team and held this position from 1982 to 1992.

From 1993 to 1997, Yarygin was the president of the Russian Wrestling Federation and a member of the bureau of the international federation of united styles of wrestling. He was an honorary citizen of Krasnoyarsk and the Shushensky District and a holder of the FILA Gold Medal.

Ivan Yarygin died on October 11, 1997, in a car accident on the Makhachkala-Kislovodsk highway in the Stavropol Krai, colliding with a parked truck. He is buried in Moscow at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.