2020 Olympic champion Zhan Beleniuk (Photo courtesy of UWW)Monday marked the first medals that were handed out in wrestling at the 2020 Olympics. As each weight class has concluded we will have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight.
Past Articles
60 kg Men's Greco-Roman
77 kg Men's Greco-Roman
97 kg Men's Greco-Roman
130 kg Men's Greco-Roman
68 kg Women's Freestyle
76 kg Women's Freestyle
Qualification Results
Viktor Lorincz (Hungary) over Atabek Azisbekov (Kyrgyzstan) 6-1
Denis Kudla (Germany) over Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan) 4-1
Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) over Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus) 9-1
Daniel Gregorich Hechavarria (Cuba) over Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) 3-1
Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) over Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) 6-5
Ivan Huklek (Croatia) over John Stefanowicz (USA) 5-3
Bachir Sid Azara (Algeria) over Fei Peng (China) 11-1
Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) over Zurabi Datunashvili (Serbia) 3-1
Quarterfinal Results
Viktor Lorincz (Hungary) over Denis Kudla (Germany) 1-1
Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) over Daniel Gregorich Hechavarria (Cuba) Fall 1:16
Ivan Huklek (Croatia) over Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) 4-1
Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) over Bachir Sid Azara (Algeria) 1-1
Semifinal Results
Viktor Lorincz (Hungary) over Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) 9-2
Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) over Ivan Huklek (Croatia) 7-1
Repechage Results
Denis Kudla (Germany) over Atabek Azisbekov (Kyrgyzstan) 10-2
Zurabi Datunashvili (Serbia) over Bachir Sid Azara (Algeria) 5-1
Bronze Medal Matches
Zurabi Datunashvili (Serbia) over Ivan Huklek (Croatia) 6-1
Denis Kudla (Germany) over Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) Fall 5:36
Gold Medal Match
Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) over Viktor Lorincz (Hungary) 5-1
Notes:
Zhan Beleniuk became a two-time Olympic medalist. He took silver in 2016.
Beleniuk is now a three-time World/Olympic champion.
Beleniuk is also a six-time World/Olympic medalist
He is also Ukraine's first Greco-Roman Olympic champion since Vyacheslav Oliynyk (90kg) in 1996.
Beleniuk is also the first Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler to earn multiple Olympic medals (2nd in 2016).
While not dominant on the scoreboard, Beleniuk was consistent. He only surrendered a single point in all four of his contests. He outscored the opposition 16-4 in four matches.
Both finalists ended up getting pushed in the semifinals and prevailed via criteria after 1-1 wins.
Viktor Lorincz is now a four-time World/Olympic medalist. His first world medal came in 2013.
Zurabi Datunashvili earned his first World/Olympic medal.
Datunashvili finally got over the hump. He was a two-time fifth place finisher at World Championship events and this was his third Olympic Games.
Denis Kudla earned his fourth World/Olympic medal. It was his second Olympic bronze.
Kudla grabbed his first Olympic medal in Rio while only 21 years old. He still was the youngest medalist in this weight class at 26. The other three medalists were all at least 30.
Neither of the eventual bronze medal winners appeared in the semifinals.
87 kg ended up being the only Greco-Roman weight where all of the medalist hailed from European countries.
This weight class only featured five returning World/Olympic medalists. Three ended up medaling. The other two (Rustam Assakalov - Uzbekistan and Lasha Gobadze - Georgia) met in the first round. Assakalov took the bout, 6-5.
