Russia Dominates Greco-Roman, Aliyev Tops Labazanov

Monday, May 21, 2018 - 12:37 By Ali Feizasa

MOSCOW (May 21) -- Just as in men’s Freestyle, Russia finished 2018 Greco-Roman world military championships with the top spot.

Complete with world and European medal winners, Russians sent a strong team to the event and collected six gold medals. The host country collected 209 points (6 gold,2 silver, 1 bronze) to win team title, Iran was runner up with 132 points(1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze) and Azerbaijan came third with 119 points (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze).

55kg was the lone weight that the host country failed to win medal and Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM) grabbed gold by 7-6 victory over Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ).

2016 European bronze medal winner Gambolat LOKIAEV scored two points against Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) in 60kg finale to repeat his title in 2016 world military championships.

Mohamad NOURBAKHSH who placed second in recent Iran team trials, beat Russian Sanal SEMENOV 4-3 in 63kg final match.

In 67kg, Alexey KIYANKIN (RUS) achieved his third medal in world military championships, downing Aslan POGHOSYAN (ARM) by tech fall, 9-0 in 67 kg finales.

Two weeks after winning European title, Adam KURAK (RUS) repeated title in world military championships.

KURAK earned 3-0 victory over Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) in 72kg final bout to repeat his last year’s gold medal in the event.

77kg final match was the battle of former world champions as 2011 world champion Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) downed 2014 world champion Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS), 6-2.

The fourth title of the host country was achieved by Imil SHARAFETDINOV as the Russian wrestler beat 2018 Asian champion Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ), 7-3 in 82kgfinale.

Sosruko KODZOKOV (RUS) collected fifth gold for Russia with a technical fall 13-4 victory over Iranian Arman ALIZADEH ABDVALI in 87kg.

In 97kg, 23 years old Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) continued his progress and defeated Damian VONEUW (SUI) by 10-0 technical fall victory.

KUOSMANEN, a 2018 European bronze medal winner, spoiled Nikita MELNIKOV’s title defending in world military championships and the Finnish wrestler downed Russian 2013 world champion, 4-1 in semi final.

Vitalii SHCHUR (RUS) closed out the Greco-Roman competition with a 7-2 shutout over Balint LAM (HUN), 7-2 in hevy weight final match

2018 Greco-Roman World Military Wrestling

Team standings:

1- Russia 209 pts (6 gold,2 silver, 1 bronze)
2- Iran 132 pts (1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
3- Azerbaijan 119 pts (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
4- Armenia 119 pts (1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
5- Kazakhstan 98 pts (2 silver, 2 bronze)

Results:

55kg
GOLD- Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM) df. Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ), 7-6
BRONZE- Un Nam KWON (PRK) df. Moslem NADERI KHADEM (IRI) by FALL
BRONZE- A. NERGYIBATOR (MGL) df. JHON F. TIGREROS URBANO (COL) by forfeit

60kg
GOLD- Gambolat LOKIAEV (RUS) df. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE), 2-0
BRONZE- Ararat MANUCHARYAN (ARM) df. Bence KOVACS (HUN) by TF, 8-0
BRONZE- Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA (IRI) df. Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG), 3-1

63kg
GOLD- Mohamad NOURBAKHSH (IRI) df. Sanal SEMENOV (RUS), 4-3
BRONZE- Erik TORBA (HUN) df. Ammar ALNAJE (SYR) by TF, 8-0
BRONZE- Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) df. Ismail ALIYEU (BLR) by TF, 9-0

67kg
GOLD- Alexey KIYANKIN (RUS) df. Aslan POGHOSYAN (ARM) by TF, 9-0
BRONZE- Yahor VLADYKA (BLR) df. Mate KRASZNAI (HIN) by TF, 9-0
BRONZE- Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) df. Amin SURI (IRI), 5-5

72kg
GOLD- Adam JURAK (RUS) df. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE), 3-0
BRONZE-Petros MANOUILIDIS (GRE) df. Siarhei BARADZIULIA (BLR), 11-5
BRONZE- Armen HAKOBYAN (ARM) df. Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ), 5-5

77kg
GOLD- Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) df. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS), 6-2
BRONZE- Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) df. Tsimur BERDYIEU (BLR), 6-3
BRONZE- Tero HALMESMAKT (FIN) df. Shayan AFIFI (IRI), 2-0

82kg
GOLD- Imil SHARAFETDINOV (RUS) df. Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ), 7-3
BRONZE- Eduard SARGSYAN (ARM) df. Mehdi MOHAMADZADEH (IRI) by TF, 11-0
BRONZE- Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Roland SCHWARZ (GER), 5-2

87kg
GOLD- Sosruko KODZOKOV (RUS) df. Arman ALIZADEH ABDVALI (IRI) by TF, 13-4
BRONZE- Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) df, Ihar YARASHEVICH (BLR), 7-3
BRONZE- Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Maximilian REMENSPERGER (GER), 8-1

97kg
GOLD- Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) df. Damian VONEUW (SUI) by TF, 10-0
BRONZE- Ali Akbar HEIDARI (IRI) df. Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ), 4-0
BRONZE- Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) df. Turman EYUBOV (AZE) by TF, 8-0

130kg
GOLD- Vitalii SHCHUR (RUS) df. Balint LAM (HUN), 7-2
BRONZE- Toannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) df. Nurdaulet OMIRBEKOV (KAZ) by forfeit
BRONZE-Behnam MEHDIZADEH (IRI) df. Eduard POPP (GER) by FALL

#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.

Russia Dominates Greco-Roman, Aliyev Tops Labazanov

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