PARIS — Japanese wrestling juggernaut Akari Fujinami extended her outrageous winning streak to claim the women’s 53-kilogram freestyle gold of the Paris Olympics at the Champ-de-Mars Arena on Thursday.
The 20-year-old arrived in Paris with a 130-0 record and capped her campaign with ridiculous ease winning the gold medal contest against Ecuador’s Lucia Yepez Guzman by technical superiority.
In a totally lopsided contest, Fujinami raced to 10 points while her opponent could not score any and the euphoric Japanese leapt into the lap of her father, also her coach, in her animated celebration.
“I don’t pay too much attention to my record,” Fujinami said. “I just want to become stronger.
“To become an Olympic champion, I have worked so hard. A lot of unfortunate incidents can happen on the Olympic stage, but I had no fears.
“At the moment, I’m simply happy and overjoyed. I want to enjoy this medal and I’m going to eat a lot of yummy food.”
Fujinami had the bout in the bag with a 6-0 lead in the first period and sealed win with a go-behind to maintain the longest winning streak among active wrestlers.
In the men’s Greco-Roman section, in which holds below the waist are prohibited, Saeid Esmaeili won the 67kg gold as Iran retained the title.
Esmaeili had edged out Tokyo champion Mohammedreza Geraei in a playoff to book his ticket to Paris, and the 21-year-old offered a glimpse of his form with a 9-0 rout of Cuban Luis Orta to move on to the final.
Orta had moved up after winning the 60kg gold in Tokyo but had to settle for bronze in Paris.
Esmaeili had to fight for his 6-5 win against Parviz Nasibov in the gold medal bout though after the Ukrainian, who took silver, opened up a 3-0 lead in the first period.
The Iranian staged a brilliant comeback in the second period to draw level at 5-5 and then eked out a slender lead, which he fiercely defended in the final minute.
Bulgaria’s Semen Novikov denied Iran a second Greco-Roman gold by winning the 87kg event with a 7-0 romp against Alireza Mohmadipiani, who took silver.
Novikov scored first on passivity and got a lift for two in the first period. He added two more early in the second and one for a step-out to surge far ahead.
“It’s the biggest dream,” the Ukraine-born grappler said. “I dreamed about this when I was a child to one day be an Olympic champion. The dream has come.”
Ukraine’s Zhan Beleniuk, who won gold in Tokyo three years ago and silver in Rio 2016, won bronze before leaving his shoes on the mat signaling his retirement.
“For me, it’s enough. It’s a good time to retire,” he said.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
