| Cuba’s Lopez wins second successive Olympic gold |
LONDON Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez powered to his second successive Olympic gold medal in the heaviest Greco-Roman weight class on Monday and set his sights on a third at the next Games in Brazil.
After taking a lap of honour in the packed London wrestling arena, the 29-year-old said he hoped to defend his title in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but admitted it would not get any easier to stay at the top of one of the most physical demanding sports.
“Maybe if all goes well, I think I could win another one,” he said with a broad smile that showed off two gold incisors. “I am 30 already and...it is going to be a little bit more difficult.”
Only four wrestlers have won a hat-trick of Olympic golds, the most recent being Russia’s Alexsandr Karelin.
Swedish wrestler Johan Euren, who won a bronze in the 120kg category, said Lopez could do it.
“He is in the same bracket as Karelin. He is a beast.”
Lopez, a four-time world champion married to a former Cuban Olympic fencer, never looked like losing his title in London.
He won the first two rounds of the gold medal final without dropping a point in a best of three bout.
The gold was even sweeter because he beat Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp in the semi-finals.
The Turkish wrestler defeated Lopez in a shock victory in the world championship final last year.
Reuters
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