Tag Archives: Mijaín López

Mijaín López Claims Fourth Consecutive Wrestling Olympic Gold Medal at Tokyo Games

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Mijaín López has cemented his status as a wrestling legend…

The 38-year-old Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler claimed his fourth consecutive Olympic gold after defeating Georgia’s Iacob Kadzhaia 5-0 in the 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling final.

Mijain Lopez

In the process, Lopez surpassed Russia’s Alexander Karelin, who won three consecutive Olympic gold medals between 1988 and 1996.

Lopez won the Olympic titles at the 2008 Beijing Games, the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio Games.

Mijain Lopez

Since Beijing, Lopez has been unbeaten at the Olympics, and in Tokyo, he didn’t give up a single point in the entire tournament.

The Cuban accumulates 20 Olympic fights, of which he has won 19. From London 2012 to August 2, 2021 in Tokyo, Mijaín scored 55 points and allowed none in 12 appearances. The last man who has managed to score him was precisely the Russian Baroev in Beijing 2008.

“I feel happy and proud to be the best in the world and make history,” he said Monday night at a press conference.

“I’ve had a long career, working hard to make these successes and break this record. To be able to break this record today, for me, is a great achievement, because I’ve been up against the best and I can be proud.”

Only Japan’s Kaori Icho, in the freestyle, has managed to win four Olympic gold medals in as many Games, in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

López Defeats Rival Riza Kayaalp to Claim Third Straight Greco-Roman Gold Medal at the 2016 Rio Games

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2016 Rio Games

It’s a three-peat for Mijaín López…

The 33-year-old Cuban wrestler, widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, won his third consecutive Olympic title in Greco-Roman’s heaviest weight class after defeating longtime rival Riza Kayaalp of Turkey in the 130kg Gold Medal match at the 2012 Rio Games.

Mijaín López

It marked the third straight year that Lopez and Kayaalp met in the final round with a major global title on the line. They also faced each other in the Gold Medal matches at the world championships the last two years — Lopez won in 2014, Kayaalp won in 2015.

Their rivalry also includes a bout in the semifinals of the 2012 London Games, which was won by Lopez. He would go on to win the gold medal after defeating Estonia’s Heiki Nabi.

Mijaín López

Lopez got the scoring started early this time around, hitting a big four-point throw about 15 seconds into the match. The bout got chippy late, with Kayaalp connecting with Lopez’s head after the whistle blew. Kayaalp’s move briefly awarded two penalty points to Lopez, which would have given him an 8-0 victory by technical superiority, but the points were taken off the board. The match resumed with less than a minute to go, and Lopez ultimately emerged with a 6-0 win.

Lopez also won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.

López Claims Cuba’s Second Wrestling Medal at London Games

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London Olympics 2012

Liván López Azcuy has claimed Olympic bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games…

Livan Lopez Azcuy

The 30-year-old Cuban grappler beat Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan in his bronze medal match on Sunday in the men’s freestyle wrestling 66kg at the London Games.

In winning the bronze medal at this year’s match, López matches his medal-earning performance at the 2011 world championships in Istanbul. He also claimed the gold in the category at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Livan Lopez Azcuy

López gives Cuba its second wrestling medal at the London Games, after Mijaín López’s won a Greco-Roman wrestling gold earlier in the Games.

López Defends His Greco-Roman Wrestling Title at the London Games

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London Olympics 2012

It’s a tale of redemption for Mijaín López at the 2012 Olympic Games…

The 29-year-old Cuban wrestler took down Heiki Nabi of Estonia 2-0, 1-0 on Monday to claim his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men’s Greco-Roman wrestling 120 kg category at the London Games.

Mijaín López

But it was López’s semifinal against Riza Kayaalp of Turkey that proved to be the most highly anticipated match of the day.

The wrestling world was left in shock and disbelief when Kayaalp beat the seemingly unbeatable Lopez at the 2011 World Championships. López had won world titles in 2005 and 2007, claimed the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and then went on to the next two world championships.

Mijaín López

But Lopez restored order to the heavyweight division he’s ruled for years by dropping Kayaalp in that semifinal match. He scored a couple of late points while on offense to win the first period. That set the tone heading into the second period, which also went to the “par terre” tiebreaker position. This time López  stayed on the bottom, keeping Kayaalp from scoring on him. Kayaalp flailed wildly as he attempted to pick López off the mat, but nothing worked.

Following that redemptive win over Kayaalp, López believed no one else could touch him… And that proved to be the case when he defeated Nabi in the final in similar fashion to take home the gold.

Mijaín López

“I think it was a really good fight,” said López, whose performance on Monday solidified his place as one of the great Greco-Roman heavyweights of all time.

With the victory, López becomes the third wrestler to win multiple gold medals at 120 kilograms, joining Russian legend Alexandre Karelin and Alexander Koltschinkski of the former Soviet Union.

Asked if he’d be back for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, López was noncommittal.

“I mean I am [almost] 30 already. I have three Olympics behind me. It is going to be a little bit more difficult, but life goes on,” said López.