#ThrowBackThursday

#TBT: Olympic Champion Steveson Wins First World Title

By United World Wrestling Press

Gable STEVESON (USA) became an overnight sensation after winning a thrilling final and the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with wins over former world champions Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Taha AKGUL (TUR). The American was trailing Petriashvili in the 125kg final in Tokyo but scored two takedowns in the final 10 seconds to win the coveted Olympic title at the age of 21.

But a three-time age-group world champion has a habit of punching about his weight. In 2015, a 15-year-old Steveson made a stunning run at the Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and won the gold medal with a 9-0 victory over Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB). He outscored his opponents 47-12.

Since then he won the 2016 cadet world title, 2017 junior world title, 2021 senior Pan-Am Championships gold and the Tokyo Olympics gold with just the 2018 Junior World Championships being a lackluster event for him. The defending champion there finished fifth as Rakhimov avenged his loss from 2015 with a pin.

#WrestleAstana

WATCH: 10 freestyle finals from Asian Championships

By Vinay Siwach

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (May 9) -- Kazakhstan gave its best-ever performance at the Asian Championships in freestyle, winning the team title with ease. It won four gold medals out of 10. Six other nations -- Japan, Iran, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, India and Bahrain -- won a gold medal each at the competition.

Watch the 10 gold medal bouts from the Asian Championships.

GOLD: 57kg - AMAN (IND) vs. Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)