World champion Mijain Lopez won Greco-Roman wrestling Olympic gold in the super-heavyweight category yesterday after Sweden’s Ara Abrahamian caused a scandal at the middleweight victory ceremony.
Disgusted with losing on points in the semi-finals against the later gold medalist Andrea Minguzzi, Abrahamian tossed his bronze medal onto the wrestling mat after receiving it and left.
“I don’t care about this medal. I think the semi-final shows that [the ruling body] FILA does not play fair. I didn’t deserve to lose. The system is corrupt,” the 2004 silver medalist Abrahamian said. “This will be my last match. I came here to win gold. And I didn’t. So I consider it a failure.”
PHOTO: AP
Swedish Olympic Committee chairman Stefan Lindeberg said he did not condone but “understood” Abrahamian’s protest which could lead to sanctions from the International Olympic Committee.
“It was inappropriate,” Lindeberg told Swedish radio. “I understand his feelings,[he] aimed for gold but was not given a fair chance.”
The bronze medals went to Mindaugas Mizgaitis of Lithuania and Yuri Patrikeev of Armenia.
Russia did better in the heavyweight division, with Aslanbek Khushtov defeating Mirko Englich in the gold medal bout after also beating the German at the last European championship final. Adam Wheeler of the US and Asset Mambetov of Kazakhstan earned bronze.
Khushtov was untroubled in a 2-0 decision as Englich conceded that “Khushtov is the best in the world.”
The Russian had an impressive campaign as he outscored his opponents 43-0 en route to the gold.
Minguzzi, meanwhile, was over the moon. He upset world and Olympic champion Aleksey Mishin in the quarter-finals, and, after the controversial win over Abrahamian, got gold with a 2-1 decision over Hungary’s Zoltan Fodor in a final of outsiders.
“To me, this is worth the world. I am ecstatic right now. I couldn’t be any happy,” said the delighted winner.
The bronze medals went to Namzi Avluca of Turkey and Abrahamian.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
RSS