LIVE BLOG: Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier, Day One

Friday, April 2, 2021 - 01:07 By Eric Olanowski

HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 2) -- The wait is almost over! The highly-anticipated Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier kicks off on Friday morning at 11:00 am (local time). Wrestlers who win their semifinal matches and reach the finals at their respective weight classes earn a berth for their nation to the Tokyo Olympic Games.

20:20: Souleymen NASR (TUN) wins the 67kg Nordic style bracket title with a 3-0 record on day.

20:10: In a matchup of last year's African champions, Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) defeated Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG), 10-3. He trailed 2-0 in the gold-medal match, but outscored the Egyptian 10-1 to earn the 60kg title.

20:00: We're rolling right into the Greco-Roman finals. First up will be Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) and Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY).

19:45: That'll do it for our traditional bracket semifinal matches. The remaining bouts will be Nordic Style bracket matches.

19:32: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) and Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) both won their semifinal matches and punched Algeria and Egypt's second ticket of the day to the Olympic Games.

19:10: For the second time in his last three matches, Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR) trailed 3-0 but somehow found a way to come out on top. He'll wrestle Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) for 77kg gold on Saturday night.

18:39: It'll be Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) and Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) wrestling for 60kg gold on Saturday night. Mahmoud ran through Mehdi JOUINI (TUN), 9-0, in less than two minutes, while Fergat scored four unanswered points to defeat Fouad FAJARI (MAR), 4-3.

18:12: Fajari leads 3-0 after the first period. He scored an inactivity point and a gut wrench and closed out the period with a three-point lead.

18:00: We're back to Greco-Roman action! This is going to be an emotional session. The first match up will be Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) at Fouad FAJARI (MAR) at 60kg.

WATCH ➡️ African and Oceania OG Qualifier.

Greco-Roman Semifinal Matches:
60kg
SEMIFINAL - Haithem Mahmoud Ahmed Fahmy MAHMOUD (EGY) vs. Mehdi JOUINI (TUN)
SEMIFINAL - Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) vs. Fouad FAJARI (MAR)

77kg
SEMIFINAL - Wael Hamdy Mohamed ABDELRAHMAN (EGY) vs. Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR)
SEMIFINAL - Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) vs. Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG)

87kg
SEMIFINAL - Mohamed Moustafa Ahmed Abdall METWALLY (EGY) vs. Edward Louwis LESSING (RSA)
SEMIFINAL - Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) vs. Mohamed Skander MISSAOUI (TUN)

THE END OF THE MORNING SESSION.

12:58: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll see you back here at 18:00 for the semifinals. The winners of the semifinal matches in the 60kg, 77kg and 87kg traditional brackets book their nation's tickets to the Olympic Games.

12:32: Not so fast, wrestling fans! We still have two matches left in this session.

12:28: Just as I was typing, "We could be witnessing the changing of the guard at 77kg," Ait Ouagram picks up a feet-to-back throw and pins. Richard FERREIRA (RSA) The Morrocan trailed 1-0 at the time of the fall.

12:24: Mohamed GABR (EGY) bounces back and picked up an 8-0 opening-period win against Tyler ILI (ASA). Gabr dropped his first match by a point and was clearly upset walking off the mat.

12:10: We'll roll right into the Round 3 matches. The winners of these matches will compete in tonight's semifinal matches. The winners of those semifinals will earn of berth for their nation's to the Olympics.

12:07: The arena lights were cut for a minute, but we have power to everything else, so we'll keep things rolling!

12:00: Two-time African champ Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) rolls to an 8-0 win over Mohamed MISSAOUI (EGY).

11:52: It seems like he just walked off the mat, but Fergat is up again. The reigning three-time African champ is up on Mat A.

11:30: UPSET ALERT! Rio Olympian and nine-time African champ Ait Ouagram gives up two second-period gut wrenches and falls to Maafi, 7-5.

11:25: That's how fast a match can change! Ait Ouagram put up five quick points and commands a 5-2 lead with just over one minute left.

11:20: Rio Olympian Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MART trails Tunisia's Lamjed MAAFI, 2-0, after the opening two minutes. Those two are wrestling on Mat C.

11:19: Not too much to say about that opening-round match for Mohamed. He survives and moves into the second round with a 1-1 criteria victory over Amine GUENNICHI (TUN).

11:15: Algeria's three-time reigning African champion Abdelkarim FERGAT is coming up in five matches on Mat A. He'll wrestle Mehdi JOUINI (TUN).

11:10: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) is wrestling on Mat C. Prior to COVID hitting, the Egyptian was ranked inside of the top five at 130kg. Mohamed is the favorite to earn at least one of the 130kg Olympic berths.

11:00: HERE. WE. GO! It's time to make some dreams come true.

Wrestling fans, we'll see you back here in the morning to start what's expected to be an emotional weekend! We'll get to watch 18 Olympic dreams come true (six freestyle, six Greco-Roman and six women's wrestling).

Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier Brackets:
Freestyle
Greco-Roman
Women's Wrestling

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: Lopez confident in his quest for fifth Olympic gold

Sunday, July 21, 2024 - 06:14 By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 21) -- In the history of the Olympic Games, only one athlete has won the gold medals five consecutive times: Ireen Wüst. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Dutch speed skater completed the milestone and etched her name into the history books when she won the 1,500m race.

No Summer Olympian has ever won gold medals in the same individual event five consecutive times. No wrestler has ever won five gold medals. All that could change in Paris. And the man sniffing at the record is Mijain LOPEZ (CUB).

The man they fondly call ‘Gigante de Herradura’ and ‘El Terrible’ currently holds the record of winning the same individual Olympic event four times along with swim legend Michael Phelps, track hero Carl Lewis, the American discus throw hero Al Oerter, the sailor from Denmark Paul Elvstrom and Kaori ICHO (JPN) who, like Lopez, has four gold medals.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Born on August 20, 1982, the super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler made his first appearance at the Olympics in 2004. He was accompanied in the contingent by his elder brother Michel, a boxer (his other older sibling, Misael, was a rower). Michel won a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division in Athens, a medal that continued Cuba’s historic dominance in boxing.

Lopez observed everything quietly at his maiden Games and when he returned to the biggest stage of all, in Beijing four years later, he would take the field by storm. The 6-foot-5-inch tall wrestler won a gold and repeated that feat in 2012, then in 2016 and the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“I feel like it is a dream,” Lopez said. “I believe that it's a goal that I have had throughout my career. I have won four gold medals. I believe winning an Olympic gold medal is hard. So winning four and five is exceptional.”

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) defends his gold medal at 2012 London Olympic Games (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

His stranglehold in the super heavyweight division at the Olympics has played side-by-side with his dominance at the World Championships – where he has five titles and three silver medals – and the nine Pan American Championships crowns that are to his name.

Lopez last competed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. After beating Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) in the gold medal bout on superiority, he stayed away from the mat before resurfacing last year to renew his bid for a fifth Olympic gold.

In May 2023, he announced his intention to come back but didn’t straightaway dive into competition mode although he would have been the favorite to defend his Pan American Games title.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) won his third gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

But due to a personal loss in the weeks leading up to the Pan-Am Games, Lopez opted out of the competition and chose to prepare himself for the bigger battle. He watched from the sidelines as for the first time since 2003, a new face stood on the top of the podium at the Pan-Am Games.

All the while, Lopez had been training with single-minded focus at his bases in Varadero, the scenic beach resort roughly 150 km from Havana, and the Pelado High-Performance Centre in Havana.

In Paris, he might have to fight two battles simultaneously. The first against his aging body — he is 41 years old at the moment. And once he manages that, the Cuban will have to navigate through a tough field, especially since he isn’t among the seeded wrestlers in the 130kg category.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) won his fourth gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Lopez has sounded unfazed. If anything, he is itching to better the record of one of his favorite athletes, someone he has called the greatest Olympian of all time – Phelps.

“The preparation is done. I feel in optimal condition and all wrestlers are motivated both in Cuba and internationally. It has been a very important time for me to keep the motivation to get to my sixth Olympic Games and fight for my fifth medal,” he said. “Something I am doing with great focus to be able to show the world that everything you have in mind, and want to achieve, can be achieved. I know it's in my mind, and I believe the possibility of achieving that result is high.”

Lopez wrestles in Paris on August 5 and 6.

LIVE BLOG: Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier, Day One

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Paris 2024: Lopez confident in his quest for fifth Olympic gold