Freestyle Wrestling/Group A Finals
KIM Repeats as Gold Medalist at 48kg
KIM Il of the People's Republic of Korea won his second straight Olympic gold medal, breaking a tie by scoring a takedown 3 minutes, 5 seconds into the match for a 5-4 victory over Armen MKRCHYAN of Armenia in Group A freestyle wrestling Wednesday evening at the Georgia World Congress Center.
KIM took a 3-0 lead 65 seconds into the match on a takedown and two-point gut wrench, but MKRCHYAN, the 1995 World bronze medalist, battled back to tie the score at 4-4 with a gut wrench of his own 2 minutes, 52 seconds into the match.
Alexis VILA PERDOMO of Cuba won the bronze medal with a 5-2 victory over Vugar ORUDZHOV of Russia. ORUDZHOV had defeated VILA PERDOMO in the finals of the 1995 World Championships.
Medalists: KIM Il (PRK), Armen MKRCHYAN (ARM), Alexis VILA PERDOMO (CUB).
"At the end, I ran out of energy," KIM said. "I didn't expect (MKRCHYAN) to come back, but I did win. I am speechless. There is nothing I can say to add to this. For me, this is a great moment."
CROSS Becomes First United States Gold Medalist at 57kg
Kendall CROSS became the first U.S. wrestler to win a gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games, breaking out to an early 5-0 lead and holding on for a 5-3 victory over Giuvi SISSAOURI of Canada.
CROSS had not competed on a World-level team since finishing sixth in the 1992 Olympic Games.
CROSS scored three points on a throw, then tilted SISSAOURI for two more and a 5-0 cushion by the time the match reached the one-minute mark. SISSAOURI, the silver medalist in the 1995 World Championships, narrowed the gap with three takedowns, but couldn't score any exposure points against CROSS.
RI Yong-Sam of the People's Republic of Korea defeated Harun DOGAN of Turkey for the second time in the tournament to earn the bronze medal. RI also defeated DOGAN in the first round Tuesday morning. DOGAN had won five straight Pool B consolation matches to reach the bronze-medal match.
Medalists: Kendall Cross (USA), Giuvi SISSAOURI (CAN), RI Yong-Sam (PRK).
"(CROSS was) a kid who wanted to be good so bad that he'd do whatever it takes," said USA head coach Joe SEAY, who recruited CROSS to wrestle for tradition-rich Oklahoma State University even though CROSS had finished only third in the Oklahoma high-school state tournament. "It's what you have in your mind and your heart. Not only did he win (at 57kg), he dominated a stacked weight class."
BOGIYEV Outlasts SAUNDERS for 68kg Gold Medal
Vadim BOGIYEV of Russia scored a takedown five seconds before the end of regulation time and won a 1-1 referee's decision over Townsend SAUNDERS of the United States to win the gold medal at 68kg.
SAUNDERS tied the match when he scored a one-point gut wrench with 25 seconds remaining in overtime. But his conservative style, which worked in his favor in his semifinal win, became the difference in BOGIYEV's favor in the final. BOGIYEV was awarded the victory because he held a 3-2 edge in passivity calls, which are assessed against a wrestler who is avoiding contact or action.
Following the gold-medal ceremony, BOGIYEV, 25, took off his shoes, laid them and his singlets at the center of Mat B, where he had won his gold-medal match, then bent down and kissed the mat as an announcement of his retirement.
Zaza ZAZIROV of Ukraine, who had never previously placed in a world-level event, held off Yosvany SANCHEZ LARRUDE of Cuba 8-6 to win the bronze medal.
Medalists: Vadim BOGIYEV (RUS) Townsend SAUNDERS (USA), Zaza ZAZIROV (UKR).
MAGOMEDOV Scrambles to Victory Over YANG at 82kg
Khadzhimurad MAGOMEDOV of Russia broke a 1-1 tie by scoring a takedown 10 seconds before the end of overtime for a 2-1 victory over YANG Hyun-Mo of Korea, winning the gold medal at 82kg.
MAGOMEDOV's takedown ended a fierce 25-second scramble that saw both wrestlers nearly score the winning point in continuous action. MAGOMEDOV became the youngest gold medalist in the freestyle competition at the age of 22. The match had been tied at 1-1 since the second minute of regulation time.
Medalists: YANG Hyun-Mo (KOR), Khadzhimurad MAGOMEDOV (RUS),
Amir Reza KHADEM AZGHADI (IRI).
"The whole match was very, very hard,"MAGOMEDOV said. "But I got myself very prepared and had it in my head that I would win."
ANGLE Wins Dramatic Referee's Decision Over JADIDI at 100kg
Kurt ANGLE the United States won the second gold medal for the United States, a 1-1 referee's decision over Abbas JADIDI of the Islamic Republic of Iran at 100kg.
JADIDI, the 1995 World bronze medalist at 90kg who moved up a weight class this year, scored the first point of the match on a leg lace 2 minutes, 25 seconds into the match. ANGLE tied the score with a takedown 40 seconds later. The two also were tied in passivity calls with two apiece, forcing the three-man officiating crew to pick the winner.
The raising of ANGLE's hand was an emotional moment for both wrestlers. ANGLE hugged the official, then collapsed on the mat in tears. JADIDI, meanwhile, sank to his knees in grief.
Medalists: Kurt ANGLE (USA), Abbas JADIDI (IRI), Arawat SABEJEW (GER).
KIM Outlasts JUNG in All-Korean Semifinal at 48kg
KIM Il of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea became the only 1992 Olympic gold medalist to earn a return trip to the gold-medal match in Group A freestyle wrestling Wednesday morning at the Georgia World Congress Center.
KIM scored his third takedown of the match 20 seconds into overtime for a 3-1 victory over JUNG Soon-Won of Korea.
KIM is joined in the finals by Armen MKRCHYAN of Armenia, the 1995 World bronze medalist, who beat Vitalii RAILEAN of Moldova 7-2 in the other semifinal.
Alexis VILA PERDOMO of Cuba and Vugar ORUDZHOV of the Russian Federation, who met in the 1995 World Championship final, will meet for the bronze medal. Both were eliminated from the gold-medal chase by the second round, but they won eight Pool B consolation matches between them to reach the bronze-medal match.
CROSS, SISSAOURI Advance to All-North AmericanFinal at 57kg
Kendall CROSS of Raleigh, North Carolina erased an early 2-0 deficit, scoring 12 unanswered points in a 12-2 technical superiority win over RI Yong-Sam of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to advance to the gold-medal match against Giuvi SISSAOURI of Canada.
CROSS scored nine of his 12 points on the mat, working two consecutive high-gut tilts and getting a 5-second count on each to take a 7-2 lead 3 minutes, 30 seconds into the match. He added the remaining points on stepover counters in the closing seconds.
SISSAOURI, the 1995 World silver medalist, had a tougher road in his semifinal match, scoring 2 points on a crotch-lift counter 1 minute, 43 seconds into overtime to beat Saban TRSTENA of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 4-1.
SAUNDERS Stuns World Champion in 68kg Semifinals
Townsend SAUNDERS of Phoenix, Arizona, scored the biggest upset by an American wrestler since the freestyle wrestling competition began, scoring all his points in the final 23 seconds of regulation time to beat 1995 World Champion Arayik GEVORGYAN of Armenia 4-0 and advance to the gold-medal match against Vadim BOGIYEV of Russia. BOGIYEV held on to beat HWANG Sang-Ho of Korea 3-2 in the other semifinal.
SAUNDERS' conservative style, which had worked against him most of the match, paid off in the end. Put down on the mat by GEVORGYAN for the third time following a passivity call, SAUNDERS spun behind for a reversal with 23 seconds remaining to take a 1-0 lead, then scored 1 point on a gut wrench and two more on a shoulder-and-leg tilt with 1 second remaining to end the match in regulation time.
The win made SAUNDERS, whose best previous World-level finish was fourth in the 1993 World Championships, the third American to reach a gold-medal match. It also allowed SAUNDERS to avenge a 6-2 loss to GEVORGYAN at the World Championships a year ago. GEVORGYAN became the 10th World-level champion to be eliminated from the gold-medal chase in the competition, though he later advanced to the bronze-medal match.
"I could feel him getting tired, and I thought I could wear him down," SAUNDERS said. "I stuck to my game plan and I was able to turn him."
YANG Rallies, Beats JABRAILOV to Advance at 82kg
SAUNDERS wasn't the only wrestler to score a huge upset Wednesday morning. YANG Hyun-Mo of Korea trailed 1992 Olympic silver medalist Elmadi JABRAILOV of Kazakhstan 2-0 at the end of regulation. However, since a wrestler must score three points to win, the match continued into overtime. YANG scored a 2-point gut wrench, then a 1-point lift in quick succession 1 minute, 38 seconds into the extra period for a 3-2 victory and a trip to the gold-medal match in his first World-level competition ever.
JABRAILOV later was eliminated from the medal picture entirely in a 3-2 loss to 1993 World Champion Sebahattin OZTURK of Turkey in Pool B competition.
Advancing to meet YANG was Khadzhimurad MAGOMEDOV of Russia, who blanked Amir Reza KHADEM AZGHADI of the Islamic Republic of Iran 4-0. MAGOMEDOV, also competing in his first World-level competition, is the youngest Group A competitor at age 22.
"I was able to concentrate more in the overtime," YANG said. "I practiced a lot for this and focused on my training."
ANGLE Advances to 100kg Final; JADIDI Wins in Overtime
Kurt ANGLE of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania helped the United States turn in a 3-for-3 performance in semifinal matches Wednesday morning. The 1995 World Champion scored all his points in the opening minute in a 4-1 victory over Konstantin ALEKSANDROV of Kyrgyzstan.
Abbas JADIDI of the Islamic Republic of Iran, will face ANGLE in the title match after scoring a 3-point takedown with 39 seconds left in overtime to beat Marek GARMULEWICZ of Poland 4-1. GARMULEWICZ had tied the score only 10 seconds earlier with a takedown of his own and was ahead on criteria before JADIDI struck with the winning move.
JADIDI moved up a weightclass this year from 90kg, where he was the 1995 World bronze medalist.
"I was a little upset because I was called out early (for my semifinal match)," JADIDI said. "I was not prepared. I came out a little cold. I knew (GARMULEWICZ) was going to be a strong opponent, but I was ready for him."
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| The Mother Nature was kind to Olympic athletes and spectators. The average high temperature during the Games was 89 degrees with an average low of 72 degrees. Highest temperature registered (20 July) - 99 degrees. Lowest high temperature registered is 79 degrees (28 July). |