Paris 2024 Olympics: Mijain Lopez wins fifth consecutive gold in men’s Greco-Roman wrestling
Cuba’s Mijain Lopez became the first athlete to win five successive Olympic gold medals in the same event after sealing the win in the men’s 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling final at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Published : Aug 07, 2024 00:48 IST - 1 MIN READ
Mijain Lopez Nunez of Team Cuba removes his shoes to signify his retirement following his victory and earning of fifth Olympic Gold during the Wrestling Men’s Greco-roman 130kg Gold Medal match. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Cuba’s Mijain Lopez became the first athlete to win five successive Olympic gold medals in the same event after sealing the win in the men’s 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Tuesday.
After sealing the win against Chile’s Yasmani Acosta, the 41-year-old removed his shoes on the mat to signal his retirement from the sport after his sixth Olympics.
With his victory, Lopez broke a tie for four successive individual Olympic golds he shared with Carl Lewis (athletics/long jump), Michael Phelps (swimming/200m medley), Katie Ledecky (swimming/800m freestyle), Al Oerter (athletics/discus), Paul Elvstrom (sailing) and Kaori Icho (wrestling).
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A legend of wrestling, Lopez had retired after the 2021 Tokyo Games before returning to the sport to achieve his landmark triumph.
Despite a three-year absence, Lopez stunned world champion Amin Mirzazadeh of Iran in the quarter-finals in Paris.
In six Olympic appearances, Lopez now has 22 victories against just one defeat which came in the quarter-finals of the 2004 Games in Athens.