Iran's Greco-Roman wrestlers Saeid Esmaeili and Alireza Mohmadi have bagged gold and silver medals respectively at the Paris 2024 Olympics, as wrestlers continued to bring laurels to their country.
On Thursday, Saeid Esmaeili defeated his Ukrainian rival Parviz Nasibov 6-5 in the finals of men's Greco-Roman 67kg at the Paris Olympics to clinch a gold medal.
Esmaeili defeated his Armenian rival Slavik Galstyan10-4 in the semifinals of Greco-Roman 67-kg at the Paris Olympics, booking a berth in the finals.
In the 67 kg weight class, where 16 Greco-Roman wrestlers competed, Esmaeili showcased his prowess and class to overpower his opponents.
Esmaeili began his campaign with a flawless 10-0 win against Ishak Ghaiou of Algeria.
In the next round, he delivered a stunning upset, defeating world and Olympic champion Luis Alberto Orta Sánchez of Cuba with a decisive 8-0 score to secure his place in the semi-finals.
Esmaeili continued his winning streak by overcoming a tough challenge from his Armenian opponent in a semi-final bout full of twists and turns.
He faced world bronze medalist Slavik Galstyan in the 67 kg semi-final, ultimately securing a 10-4 victory and advancing to the final.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also congratulated the victory of the 67 kg Greko-Roman wrestler saying that planning and resilience together result in “valuable gold.”
A few hours after Esmaeili’s victory, President Pezeshkian took to X and said, “Planning and resilience together result in Saeed Esmaeili's valuable gold. I congratulate the child of the land of resilience and courage, and the dear people, on this valuable gold.”
The other Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler, Alireza Mohmadi lost to his Bulgarian opponent Semen Novikov 0-7 in the 87 kg final to settle for silver.
In an impressive display of skill, Mohmadi opened his campaign with a dominant 9-0 victory over Carlos Andres Munoz Jaramillo of Colombia.
He continued his strong performance in the quarter-finals, defeating Poland's Arkadiusz Kułynycz with a commanding 10-1 score.
He defeated his Ukrainian opponent Zhan Beleniuk 3-3 (advantage of last point) in the semi-finals of Greco-Roman 87 kg at the Paris Olympics to book his spot in the gold medal match.
But in the final match, he lost to his Bulgarian opponent and won the fourth medal for Iran at this Olympics.
Pertinently, Amin Mirzazadeh won the first medal for Iran - bronze - at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday and Mohammad Hadi Saravi won the first gold medal on Wednesday.