Wrestling event underway as Iran yearns for Olympic glory
With less than a week until the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, Iran is yet to claim a single medal in the French capital but the wait could come to an end when two members of the Greco-Roman wrestling squad begin their quest for the coveted prize in Grand Palais Éphémère today.
Reigning world superheavyweight champion Amin Mirzazadeh, who was unlucky to miss out on the Olympic podium in Tokyo three years ago, will be looking to continue his commanding run in the 130kg weight class, while Mahdi Mohsennejad will hope to be the Iranian dark horse in the 60kg contests.
History vs. form
Wrestling great Mijain Lopez will still be the man to watch in the 130kg event as the 41-year-old Cuban is eager to win the gold in a remarkable fifth Olympic Games – a feat never accomplished by any athlete in the 128-year history of the sporting extravaganza.
Lopez will be in action for the first time since he grabbed the gold at the Tokyo Olympics – a victory that put him in the pantheon of four-time Olympic champions with female Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho, Danish sailor Paul Elvstrom, athletics’ Al Oerter and Carl Lewis of the United States, and legendary American swimmer Michael Phelps.
Lopez has compatriot Oscar Pino to thank for making it to the sixth Olympics of his career as it was the latter who won the world bronze in Belgrade last year to secure the Olympic quota for Cuba.
“I feel in optimal condition. It has been a very important time for me to keep the motivation to get to my sixth Olympic Games and fight for my fifth medal,” Lopez told the United World Wrestling official website.
“I have tried to avoid injuries and will be with motivation, desire and impetus which I always had for the Olympics.”
you have to go all the way back to 2015 for the Cuban’s last defeat, when he was beaten by Turkish Riza Kayaalp in the world final. In fact, since his first Olympic triumph in 2008, Lopez has conceded only two losses – the other also coming against Kayaalp in 2011.
Perhaps, the only wrestler standing between Lopez and a historic gold will be Iranian Mirzazadeh.
The two have met once before, with the Cuban scoring an emphatic 8-0 in the quarterfinals in Tokyo, but a probable second meeting in Paris will see the Iranian step onto the mat in his prime.
Mirzazadeh, who came from behind to defeat Kayaalp to the world gold last year, has been the superheavyweight to beat since his world final loss to the Turkish in September 2022, winning double golds at the Asian Championships as well as the ultimate prize in the Asian Games over that period.
Mirzazadeh enters the event as the top seed of his class and will begin his campaign against an unseeded wrestler in the round of 16, while Lopez is not in UWW’s 130kg top-eight seeds, meaning the two could go head-to-head at any stage.
Mountain to climb
Iranian Mohsennejad, meanwhile, will be facing a mammoth task to finish on the podium in the 60kg contests – an event dominated by the Asian wrestlers in the World Championships last year.
A two-time Asian silver medalist, Mohsennejad – No. 5 in the class – will meet an unseeded opponent in the first round, and a win will likely see him lock horns with four-time world medalist and Olympic silver winner Kenichiro Fumita of Japan in the quarterfinals, with two-time defending world champion of Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan in the same half of the draw.
Mohsennejad fell to a last-four defeat against Sharshenbekov – the number-one seed in Paris – in Belgrade and was then beaten by Uzbekistan’s Islomjon Bakhromov in the bronze-medal bout, but still managed to come out on top against Armenian Gevorg Gharibyan to secure the Olympic berth for the country.
North Korean Ri Se-ung, European 63kg champion Murad Mammadov of Azerbaijan, and Cuban Kevin de Armas are also among the contenders for the Olympic medal.
The repechage battles and the medal bouts of the two classes will take place on Tuesday.