Nokhodi grabs world wrestling bronze
Iranian freestyle wrestler Mohammad Nokhodi finished his World Championships campaign with a joint bronze in Belgrade.
With six-time champion Jordan Burroughs absent at this year’s event, Nokhodi, beaten by the legendary American in the previous two finals, arrived in the Serbian capital as the favorite to walk away with the ultimate prize of the 79kg weight class.
Nokhodi got off to a flying start in the competitions, defeating Turkey’s Ramazan Ishak Sari (9-4), but a last-eight 5-2 setback against Russian Akhmed Usmanov, participating as a neutral athlete, ended his hopes of a first world gold.
However, Nokhodi bounced back to beat North Macedonian Ahmad Magomedov 5-1 in the repechage before a 10-0 technical fall triumph over Azerbaijan’s Orkhan Abasov secured a third successive world medal for the Iranian.
Nokhodi, who broke down in tears after his victory, shared the third podium with Vasyl Mykhailov of Ukraine, while Usmanov went on to beat Georgian Vladimeri Gamkrelidze 4-1 for the gold.
This was a fourth medal for the Iranian 10-man squad in Belgrade.
Having beaten defending champion Taha Akgül of Turkey in the semifinals, Amirhossein Zare’ outmuscled Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili by an 11-0 scoreline on Sunday to capture a second 125kg gold in three years.
Hassan Yazdani, meanwhile, suffered a fifth defeat in a sixth head-to-head with David Taylor as the American pinned his familiar foe with two seconds left on the clock in the 86kg final.
Amirmohammad Yazdani, representing the country in the 70kg contests, also came short in a showdown with an American opponent.
Yazdani – a silver winner in 2021 – looked to be in exhilarating form on his way to the final but clearly ran out of steam toward the end of the contest against Zain Retherford, falling to an 8-5 loss.