Lopez Wins Third Straight Greco-Roman Gold Medal, Joins the Greats

RIO DE JANEIRO (August 15) – Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) won his third straight Olympic Games gold medal on Sunday with a 6-0 victory over reigning world champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

With the victory, Lopez becomes the third wrestler in the classic style to win three Olympic Games gold medals after Carl WESTERGREN (SWE, 1920-1932) and Alexander KARELIN (RUS, 1988-1996).

After last year’s 1-0 loss to Kayaalp in the world championships finals, many wrestling fans were expecting a hard-fought struggle on Sunday evening, but Lopez sealed his victory in the opening 30 seconds of the gold medal final.

Lopez snapped Kayaalp down as the champ moved forward at the opening whistle.  With Kayaalp’s balance broken forward, Lopez wrapped up a tight chest-lock from in front and tossed the champ to his back for a sudden 4-0 lead. In the ensuring scramble, Lopez added a step-out point.

As things got chippy with a frustrated Kayaalp in the second period, Lopez gained another penalty point and appeared to have technical fall within reach with one minute to go, but he chose to ease home with the victory.

Earlier in the day, Lopez defeated London 2012 silver medalist Heike NABI (EST), bronze medalist Johan EUREN (SWE) and two-time junior world champion Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – all by simple decisions.

Meanwhile, in the 85kg final, European Games gold medalist Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) broke open a one-point match with a two-point lift and throw as well as a two-point leg penalty as he fashioned a 9-2 win over reigning world champ Zhan BELENYUK (UKR).

In the bronze medal matches, 2013 world bronze medalist Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) received two points on a grabbing-the-singlet penalty and then spun behind for two more in the first period on his way to a 4-1 victory over Nikolay BAYRAKOV (BUL) at 85kg.

Denis KUDLA (GER) received a penalty point for the criteria advantage with 34 seconds remaining and held on for a 3-3 win over Viktor LORINCZ (HUN).

At 130kg, European Games silver medalist Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) converted with a gut wrench in par terre and caught Eduard POPP (GER) on his back for the fall at 1:47.

In the second bronze-medal match, Semenov unleashed a five-point lift and back-arching throw in the second period to seal a 6-0 victory over Nabi.

Greco-Roman 85kg (21 entries)

Gold Medal Final
Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) df. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR), 9-2

Bronze Medal Finals
Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) df. Nikolay BAYRAKOV (BUL), 4-1
Denis KUDLA (GER) df. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), 3-3

Semifinals
Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) df. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR), 6-0
Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) df. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), 7-1

Repechage
Nikolay BAYRAKOV (BUL) df. Ahmed SAAD (EGY), 2-1 
Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) df. Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE), 3-2 
Denis KUDLA (GER) df. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI), 1-1

Greco-Roman 130kg (19 entries)

Gold Medal Final
Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) df. Riza KAYAALP (TUR), 6-0

Bronze Medal Finals
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) df. Eduard POPP (GER) by Fall, 1:47 (2-0)
Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) df. Heike NABI (EST), 6-0

Semifinals
Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Eduard POPP (GER) by TF, 8-0, 1:53
Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) df. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS), 3-0

Repechage
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) df. Edwin CARABALLO CABRERA (VEN) by TF, 8-0, 5:06 
Heike NABI (EST) df. Johan EUREN (SWE), 3-0