Tokyo 2020: Cuba's Mijain Lopez first man to win four golds in wrestling

The 38-year-old Mijain Lopez was unscored upon in his four matches and he joins Japan’s Kaori Icho as the only wrestlers to claim four Olympic gold medals.

Published : Aug 02, 2021 18:08 IST

Mijain Lopez of Cuba celebrates after defeating Georgia's Iakobi Kajaia during the Men's Greco-Roman 130kg Final at the Tokyo Olympics.
Mijain Lopez of Cuba celebrates after defeating Georgia's Iakobi Kajaia during the Men's Greco-Roman 130kg Final at the Tokyo Olympics.
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Mijain Lopez of Cuba celebrates after defeating Georgia's Iakobi Kajaia during the Men's Greco-Roman 130kg Final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Cuba’s Mijain Lopez became the first man to win four Olympic gold medals in wrestling by defeating Georgia’s Iakobi Kajaia 5-0 in the Greco-Roman 130-kilogram final.

The 38-year-old was unscored upon in his four matches. He joins Japan’s Kaori Icho as the only wrestlers to claim four Olympic golds. Icho had won freestyle gold medals in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Lopez won gold at 120 kg in 2008 and 2012 and 130 kg in 2016 before his victory on Monday.

WATCH |

Lopez got a point for passivity by Kajaia, then scored two points on a gut wrench. He scored another point on passivity and another on a step out to go up 5-0. Lopez defeated Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp 2-0 in the semifinals on Sunday in a rematch of the 2016 gold medal match.

Kayaalp won bronze by defeating Iran’s Amin Mirzazadeh 7-2. The Russian Olympic Committee’s Sergey Semenov won the other bronze, defeating Chile’s Yamani Acosta Fernandez.

It was Cuba’s second gold medal of the night in Greco-Roman. Luis Orta Sanchez defeated Japan’s Kenichiro Fumita 5-1 in the 60 kg final. Orta Sanchez was leading 4-0 at the break, then held on for the victory.

Fumita, trying to win in his home country, was the No. 1 seed and a two-time world champion. The bronze medallists in the event were the Russian Olympic Committee’s Sergey Emelin and China’s Sailike Walihan.

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