Session 8 Classification and Medal Rounds/52kg
NAZARYAN Ends PAULSON's Run at 52kg:
Armen NAZARYAN of Armenia scored a takedown and four-point throw just over one minute into the gold-medal match and beat Brandon PAULSON of the United States, 5-1, to earn the first gold medal awarded in Group B Tuesday evening at the Georgia World Congress Center.
NAZARYAN became Armenia's first Olympic gold medalist ever in any sport as the silver medalist in the 1993 and 1995 World Championships fought off PAULSON's high-dive takedown shots with his strength advantage. PAULSON, who reached the gold-medal match in his first trip ever to a World-level competition, broke the shutout when he scored a reversal 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the match. Medalists: Armen NAZARYAN (ARM); Brandon PAULSON (USA); Andriy KALASHNIKOV (UKR).
"I want to dedicte this medal to my country, because it is the first time my nation has won gold," NAZARYAN said. "I hope this is not our last medal."
ZAWADZKI Keeps Poland's Run Going at 62kg:
Wlodzimierz ZAWADZKI won Poland's third gold medal in three tries as he scored a 3-1 victory over Juan MAREN DELIS of Cuba.
ZAWADZKI opened the scoring with a one-point gut wrench just over one minute into the match and broke a 1-1 tie with another two-point gut wrench at the 3:56 mark for the winning points.
Akif Mehmet PIRIM of Turkey, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist who lost to MAREN DELIS in the first round Monday morning, blanked Koba GULIASHVILI of Georgia 9-0 to win his sixth straight Pool B match and the bronze medal. Medalists: Wlodzimierz ZAWADZKI (POL); Juan MAREN DELIS (CUB); Akif Mehmet PIRIM (TUR).
ASCUY AGUILERA Staves Off Upset at 74kg:
Marko ASELL of Finland, who didn't know until last week that he had earned a wild-card berth, nearly took home the gold medal. But a split decision that went against him helped Filiberto ASCUY AGUILERA of Cuba escape with a 3-2 victory and the gold medal.
ASCUY AGUILERA took a 3-0 lead with a one-point lift and a two-point gut wrench two minutes into the match. But ASELL, who didn't place in the 1995 World Championships, his only previous World-level competition, made it 3-1 on a gut wrench and, with just under a minute left, hit a lift-and-throw against ASCUY AGUILERA. The referee scored the throw four points -- three for exposure, one for the lift. But he was overruled by the judge and the mat chairman, who awarded only the lift point to leave ASELL trailing 3-2 -- the way the match ended.
Finland protested the match, but probably wished they hadn't. Officials of Federation Internationale de Lutte Amateur (FILA), wrestling's international governing body, rescored the match from a videotape and added five more points to ASCUY AGUILERA's total, declaring the official result 8-2 in his favor.
Jozef TRACZ of Poland erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring a four-point lift-and-throw with 50 seconds remaining to beat Erik HAHN of Germany 4-2 and earn the bronze medal. TRACZ
also won the silver medal in 1992 and the bronze medal in 1988. HAHN reached the bronze-medal match despite not qualifying for the Olynpic Games. He was selected as a wild-card entry. Medalists: Filiberto ASCUY AGUILERA (CUB); Marko ASELL (FIN); Jozef TRACZ (POL).
"The controversy surrounding the match made it kind of tough," ASELL said. "I thought I had a five-point throw and they only gave me one point. But (the silver medal) is still quite satisfying."
OLEYNYK Completes Masterful Performance at 90kg:
Having beaten 1992 Olympic gold medalist Maik BULLMANN of Germany Monday evening and 1992 Olympic sivler medalist Hakki BASAR of Turkey Tuesday morning, Vyacheslav OLEYNYK of Ukraine turned his attention to the seventh-place finisher in the 1996 European Championships, Jacek FAFINSKI of Poland, in the gold-medal match.
OLEYNYK shut out Jacinski 6-0 in the title match and won the gold medal despite finishing only fifth himself in the European Championships this year. Despite the loss by FAFINSKI, Poland paced the Greco-Roman competition with five medalists overall in the 10 weight classes -- three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
BULLMANN edged Aleksandr SIDORENKO of Belarus 2-0 for the bronze medal.
Derrick WALDROUP of the United States beat Marek SVEC of the Czech Republic 10-2 for seventh place, then invoked a time-honored military tradition in announcing his retirement from competitive wrestling to the capacity crowd of 7,400: He took off his shoes, laid them at the center of the mat, covered them with his blood cloth, saluted the cheering crowd with a kiss, then walked off the mat. WALDROUP, 33, has been named head coach of the U.S. Army wrestling team, which is stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. Medalist: Vyacheslav OLEYNYK (UKR); Jacek FAFINSKI (POL); Maik BULLMANN (GER).
"Twenty years of hard work finally paid off," WALDROUP said. "Set your goals and set your dreams and it will happen."
KARELIN Holds Off GHAFFARI at 130kg:
The eagerly-anticipated matchup between two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Aleksandr KARELIN of Russia and Siamak GHAFFARI of the United States was every bit as exciting as it was billed.
KARELIN scored a takedown 1 minute, 51 seconds into the match and made it stand up for a 1-0 victory and his third consecutive Olympic gold medal. He joined Alexander MEDVED of the Soviet Union (1964, 1968, 1972) as the only wrestlers ever to win three Olympic gold medals.
GHAFFARI became the third American to reach a gold-medal match, a record for the United States in a single Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling competition. But the United States continued to be shut out of a gold medal, as they have since 1984. Medalists: Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS); Siamak GHAFFARI (USA); Serguei MOURIENKO (MDA).
Paulson Rolls to Gold-Medal Match at 52kg:
Brandon PAULSON of Minneapolis, Minnesota, competing in his first World-level tournament ever, beat Yordan ANEV of Bulgaria 6-2 to advance to the gold-medal match Sunday morning at the Georgia World Congress Center.
PAULSON controlled the tempo of the match throughout, showing superb mat management as he continually worked the Bulgarian to the edge of the mat and had the majority of good scoring chances. Three minutes into the match, ANEV took a 2-1 lead on a two-point gut wrench and was trying to work another turn for a count when PAULSON spun behind for a tying reversal and added a two-point gut wrench of his own immediately for a 4-2 lead, giving him control of the match. He added a two-point throw later for his final points.
Armen NAZARYAN of Armenia, the World Championships silver medalist in 1993 and 1995, put away upset-minded Lazaro RIVAS SCULL of Cuba 7-1 and will face PAULSON in the gold-medal match.
Samuel DANIELYAN of Russia reached the bronze-medal match with the biggest comeback in the tournament to date, rallying from an 8-0 deficit in the final 2 minutes to beat Cuban Lazaro RIVAS SCULL 9-8. Medal matches: Gold - Armen NAZARYAN (ARM) vs. Brandon PAULSON (USA); Bronze - Samvel DANIELYAN (RUS) vs. Andriy KALASHNIKOV (UKR).
"Conditioning is my best asset," PAULSON said. "When I'm tired, he's really tired. I'm in a zone. I can't even remember my first two matches. When you get to the Olympics, it's time to show the world th best I've got."
Maren Delis Reaches Finals at 62kg:
He started the competition by upsetting 1992 Olympic gold medalist Akif MEHMET PIRIM of Turkey Monday morning. Now Juan MAREN DELIS of Cuba has a chance to win his own gold medal.
MAREN DELIS beat Ivan IVANOV of Bulgaria in the semifinals and will face Wlodzimierz ZAWADZKI of Poland for the gold medal.
The 1992 Olympic silver medalist, Sergey MARTYNOV of Russia, was elminated from the medal picture by Koba GULIASHVILI of Georgia, 7-2 in Pool B competition. MARTYNOV is a four-time world champion.
PIRIM, meanwhile, advanced to the bronze-medal match with his fifth straight Pool B victory, 2-1 over Hrihoriy KAMYSHENKO of Ukraine. Medal matches: Gold - Woldzimierz ZAWADZKI (POL) vs. Juan MAREN DELIS (CUB); Bronze - Koba GULIASHVILI (GEO) vs. Akif Mehmet PIRIM (TUR).
Wrestling - Greco-Roman/74kg
Ascuy Aguilera Stuns Gold Medalist at 74kg:
Filiberto ASCUY AGUILERA blew a 4-1 lead in the final minute of regulation time, but scored a takedown 19 seconds into overtime to beat 1992 Olympic gold medalist Mnatsakan ISKANDARYAN of Russia and become the second Cuban to advance to a gold-medal match in Group B.
ASCUY AGUILERA, who beaten ISKANDARYAN 12-0 in the bronze-medal match in the World Championhips a year ago, appeared firmly in command until ISKANDARYAN made it 4-2 with a takedown, then scored a two-point tilt to tie the match just 5 seconds before regulation time ended.
ISKANDARYAN's loss left Russia, winner of the team title in the last three world championships, with only Alexsandr KARELIN at 130kg a possibility to win a gold medal in this year's Olympic Games. ISKANDARYAN later was knocked out of the medal picture in Pool B, losing 8-5 to Erik HAHN of Germany.
Marko ASELL of Finland, a wild-card entry into the draw, was dominant in his semifinal match, scoring two arm throws in a 11-0 technical superiority decision over Artur DZIHASOV of Ukraine.
Jozef TRACZ of Poland, the Olympic bronze medalist in 1988 and the silver medalist in 1992, remained alive for the bronze medal. Medal matches: Gold - Filiberto ASCUY AGUILERA (CUB) vs. Marko ASELL (FIN); Bronze - Jozef TRACZ (POL) vs. Erik HAHN (GER).
"I'm a little nervous because this is my first final," ASELL said. "But it is a good nervous."
Oleynyk on a Roll at 90kg:
To be the best, you've got to beat the best. Just ask Vyacheslav OLEYNYK of Ukraine.
On Tuesday morning, OLEYNYK shut out Hakki BASAR of Turkey 3-0, completing a back-to-back sweep against the 1992 Olympic gold and silver medalists. Not only was BASAR the 1992 Olympic silver medalist, but he also is the defending world champion.
Monday night, OLEYNYK had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat 1992 Olympic gold medalist Maik BULLMANN of Germany 4-2. OLEYNYK's previous best was the silver medal in the 1994 World Championships.
OLEYNYK will face Jacek FAFINSKI of Poland, a 6-0 winner over Iordanis KONSTANTINIDIS of Greece, in the gold-medal match. FAFINSKI continued Poland's incredible march to Olympic glory, becoming the second Polish wrestler to reach the gold-medal match in Group B. Poland had led all Group A nations with two gold medals. Poland and Ukraine each have three wrestlers competing for medals Tuesday night. Medal matches: Gold - Vyacheslav OLEYNYK (UKR) vs. Jacek FAFINSKI (POL); Bronze - Maik BULLMANN (GER) vs. Alexsandr SIDORENKO (BLR).
World War III on Tap at 130kg:
The eagerly-anticipated matchup between two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Aleksandr KARELIN of Russia and Siamak GHAFFARI of the United States will close the Greco-Roman wrestling competition Tuesday evening.
KARELIN pinned Panagiotis POIKILIDIS of Greece at 2 minutes, 59 seconds with his patented reverse bodylock. Then, GHAFFARI shut out Rene SCHIEKEL of Germany 4-0 in his semifinal match. He is the only 1992 Olympic gold medalist to reach the gold-medal match in Group B.
GHAFFARI became the third American to reach a gold-medal match, a record for the United States in a single Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling competition.
Tomas JOHANSSON of Sweden, who had earned medals in the past two Olympic Games and was a seven-time World-level medalist, was eliminated from medal contention, 3-0 by Serguei MOURIENKO of Moldova. Medal matches: Gold - Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS) vs. Siamak GHAFFARI (USA); Bronze - Petro KOTOK (UKR) vs. Serguei MOURIENKO (MDA).
"I've wrestled (KARELIN) a lot of times," GHAFFARI said. "We even wrestled outside a grocery store in Concord, California in an exhibition match. He asked me if I would let him lift me and turn me. I said, 'Sure, if you let me pin you.' I pinned him last night. I don't lose in my dreams."
Return to the Olympic News Menu
Select another day:
Pre | July | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | August | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Post |
| More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined. |