Reineris Salas is officially an Olympic medalist.
The 34-year-old Cuban freestyle wrestler claimed the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 97kg wrestling competition at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Salas defeated Azerbaijan’s Sharif Sharifov in the bronze medal match.
It was a positive end to Salas’ Olympic run after his loss to Russian Olympic Committee’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev, who would go on to win the gold.
Sadulaev defeated Team USA’s Kyle Snyder, who had to settle for the silver.
He may have fallen short of the gold at the 2012 Olympic Games… But Jaime Yusept Espinal still has plenty of reason to celebrate.
The 27-year-old Puerto Rican grappler lost his gold medal match on Saturday in the men’s 84-kilogram freestyle at the London Games to Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan.
Sharifov, the defending world champion, dominated the match against Espinal. He registered four points-scoring throws in a first round he won 6-1 before taking the second 2-0 to wrap up the win.
Despite the loss, Espinal has managed to make Puerto Rican sports history with his second place finish at the London Games. He delivered only the second silver medal in Puerto Rico’s Olympic history – and the first medal of any kind by a Puerto Rican wrestler.
Georgia’s Dato Marsagishvili and Iran’s Ehsan Naser Lashgari won bronze.