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KARELIN, GHAFFARI End Greco-Roman Competition in Style

It was one of those magic moments in wrestling when you just have a feeling history is in the making.

A capacity crowd of 7,400 had stayed for the entire session waiting for the grand finale matching two of the world's most celebrated Greco-Roman heavyweights, two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Alexsandr KARELIN of Russia and Siamak GHAFFARI of the United States.

The crowd was waiting to explode with GHAFFARI's every move. But it was KARELIN who controlled the match, scoring a takedown 1 minute, 51 seconds into the match and making it stand up through the rest of the five-minute regulation and the three-minute overtime period for a 1-0 victory.

His energies completely spent, GHAFFARI burst into tears on the awards stand as the flags were raised and the national anthem of Russia was played.

"I wanted to win the match and hear `The Star-Spangled Banner' played for all the fans and all my friends and family who were there," GHAFFARI said. "I was concerned about stopping (KARELIN) on the mat. He didn't turn me. But he took me down and wrestled better than I did on my feet."

Prior to this year's Olympic Games, KARELIN had been taken to overtime only once in his international career, by GHAFFARI in the 1993 World Championships. This week, bronze medalist Serguei MOUREIKO of Moldova and GHAFFARI took him to overtime -- MOUREIKO in a 2-0 loss in the quarterfinals and GHAFFARI in the title match. KARELIN has not even been scored upon since his gold-medal match in 1988, when he had to come from behind to beat Rangel BUROWSKI of Bulgaria.

KARELIN said the surgery performed on his right shoulder in April slowed his performance. "It's not that the other guys are catching up to me," said KARELIN, 28. "It's that I'm standing still because of the trauma (in my shoulder)."

GHAFFARI, who switched to the Greco-Roman style in 1991 after years of not being able to beat American freestyle standout Bruce BAUMGARTNER, is not standing still. He made it clear that he's not through, and expects to be a part of the U.S. team when the Olympic Games reconvene at Sydney, Australia in the year 2000.

"I want to win a World Championship and an Olympic gold medal," GHAFFARI said. "Alexsandr KARELIN has helped take me to a higher level. He's in a class all to himself."

A man who loves his sport and his country equally, KARELIN was almost as concerned about the performance of his Russian teammates in the Olympic Games. The Russians, who won the team title in the World Championships the previous three years, added only a pair of bronze medals to his gold.

"I am saddened by the performance of the Russian team," KARELIN said. "What you experience when you wrestle for Russia is a very special feeling. The Russians who have competed in Greco-Roman wrestling over the years are all my heroes."

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Betty Posey.


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