Al Obaidi of IOC Refugee Team Makes Winning Olympic Debut at Tokyo 2020
Tuesday, August 3, 2021 - 04:37 By Tim Foley
CHIBA, Japan (August 3) --- Aker AL OBAIDI (EOR) of the IOC's Refugee team earned the first victory in his Olympic career Tuesday morning at the Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba.
Al Obaidi, an Iraqi refugee now living and training in Austria, looked superb in his first round 67kg weight class match besting Souleymen NASIR (TUN) by technical fall, 8-0.
"I felt really good in the bout," said Al Obaidi. "My wrestling was good and my mind and body were working perfectly together."
In his second match, Al Obaidi dropped the quarterfinal against Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), 10-0. Should Zoidze win his semifinal match on Tuesday night, Al Obaidi will compete in the repechage.
"I am disappointed, but I will go step-by-step. I don't have enough words to thank UWW and the IOC. I am really happy to compete and that was because of them. I am very young and I look forward to competing for a long time."
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