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| Event type

Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤66 kilograms), Men

Date 7 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationExCeL, Newham, London (North Arena 2)
Participants19 from 19 countries
FormatSingle elimination tournament. Competitors losing to the finalists entered repechage tournament for bronze medals.

Iran’s Saeid Abdvali, the reigning World Champion, had not lost a major match in men’s welterweight Greco-Roman wrestling since he was defeated by Hungary’s Tamás Lőrincz at the 2010 World Championships. Abdvali was the overwhelming favorite to win gold at the 2012 Games despite the return of France’s Steeve Guénot, the defending Olympic champion, as Guénot had not reached the podium in the World Championships since his Olympic victory. Abdvali and Guénot met during the quarterfinals, where the Frenchman defeated the Iranian in a controversial match that saw Abdvali lose the first round to penalty fouls after a successful par terre defense and the second after a successful par terre offense that was discounted after it was deemed too low on the body. While the replay showed that Abdvali was indeed too low in the second round, many Iranians felt that the referee and the match judge were unfairly penalizing Abdvali while ignoring fouls committed by Guénot.

Abdvali was denied any chance at a medal when Guénot lost to Kim Hyeon-Wu, a bronze medalist from the 2011 World Championships, in the semi-finals. In the final Kim faced Lőrincz, where Kim was nearly flipped in the first round par terre, although he maintained his defense to take the period. The second par terre was more decisive, and Kim used his top advantage to score two points on the Hungarian and capture the Olympic crown.

The first bronze medal bout was contested by Manuchar Tskhadaia of Georgia, a two-time runner up at the World Championships (2009 and 2011), and Frank Stäbler of Germany, the 2012 European Champion. Tskhadaia successfully defended a first round par terre before taking the second period, and the bronze medal, by scoring on Stäbler early in the round and withstanding the German’s aggressive onslaught for the remainder of the period. For the final podium spot Guénot faced Pedro Mulens of Cuba, a two-time World Championship bronze medalist (2009 and 2011). The Frenchman immediately asserted his dominance with a four-point takedown to win the first round and then maintained a more defensive attitude in the second to bring the period to par terre. Taking advantage of his top position, Guénot lifted the Cuban from the ground and tossed him out of the ring, earning him his second Olympic medal.

PosWrestlerNOC
1Kim Hyeon-UKORGold
2Tamás LőrinczHUNSilver
=3Steeve GuénotFRABronze
=3Manuchar TskhadaiaGEOBronze
=5Frank StäblerGER
=5Pedro MulénsCUB
7Edgaras VenckaitisLTU
8Justin LesterUSA
9Darkhan BayakhmetovKAZ
10Ashraf El-GharablyEGY
11Saeid AbdevaliIRI
12Vicente HuacónECU
=13Mohamed SerirALG
=13Tsutomu FujimuraJPN
15Pascal StrebelSUI
=16Aleksandar MaksimovićSRB
=16Wuileixis RivasVEN
18Atakan YükselTUR
19Hovhannes VarderesyanARM

Round One (7 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to round two. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round one.

Match #1 Justin LesterUSA Bye
Match #2 Tsutomu FujimuraJPN Bye
Match #3 Tamás LőrinczHUN Bye
Match #4 Frank StäblerGER Bye
Match #5 Manuchar TskhadaiaGEO Bye
Match #6 Pascal StrebelSUI Bye
Match #7 Ashraf El-GharablyEGY Bye
Match #8 Vicente HuacónECU Bye
Match #9 Steeve GuénotFRA Bye
Match #10 Wuileixis RivasVEN Bye
Match #11 Saeid AbdevaliIRI Bye
Match #12 Atakan YükselTUR Bye
Match #13 Pedro MulénsCUB Bye
Match #14 Kim Hyeon-UKOR Hovhannes VarderesyanARM Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #15 Edgaras VenckaitisLTU Mohamed SerirALG Decision (6 - 1)
Match #16 Darkhan BayakhmetovKAZ Aleksandar MaksimovićSRB Decision by shutout (2 - 0)

Round Two (7 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to quarter-finals. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round one.

Match #1 Justin LesterUSA Tsutomu FujimuraJPN Decision (6 - 1)
Match #2 Tamás LőrinczHUN Frank StäblerGER Decision (6 - 1)
Match #3 Manuchar TskhadaiaGEO Pascal StrebelSUI Decision (7 - 1)
Match #4 Ashraf El-GharablyEGY Vicente HuacónECU Decision (5 - 2)
Match #5 Steeve GuénotFRA Wuileixis RivasVEN Decision by shutout (2 - 0)
Match #6 Saeid AbdevaliIRI Atakan YükselTUR Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #7 Kim Hyeon-UKOR Pedro MulénsCUB Decision by shutout (2 - 0)
Match #8 Edgaras VenckaitisLTU Darkhan BayakhmetovKAZ Decision (6 - 2)

Quarter-Finals (7 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to semi-finals. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round two.

Match #1 Tamás LőrinczHUN Justin LesterUSA Decision (3 - 2)
Match #2 Manuchar TskhadaiaGEO Ashraf El-GharablyEGY Decision by shutout (6 - 0)
Match #3 Steeve GuénotFRA Saeid AbdevaliIRI Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #4 Kim Hyeon-UKOR Edgaras VenckaitisLTU Decision by shutout (4 - 0)

Semi-Finals (7 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to final. Losers advanced to repêchage final.

Match #1 Tamás LőrinczHUN Manuchar TskhadaiaGEO Decision by shutout (7 - 0)
Match #2 Kim Hyeon-UKOR Steeve GuénotFRA Decision (3 - 2)

Repêchage Round One (7 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to repêchage round two.

Match #1 Frank StäblerGER Bye
Match #2 Pedro MulénsCUB Hovhannes VarderesyanARM Decision by shutout (3 - 0)

Repêchage Round Two (7 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to repêchage final.

Match #1 Frank StäblerGER Justin LesterUSA Decision by shutout (10 - 0)
Match #2 Pedro MulénsCUB Edgaras VenckaitisLTU Decision (4 - 1)

Repêchage Final (7 August 2012)

Match #1 Manuchar TskhadaiaGEO Frank StäblerGER Decision (3 - 1)
Match #2 Steeve GuénotFRA Pedro MulénsCUB Decision by shutout (5 - 0)

Final Round (7 August 2012)

Match 1/2 Kim Hyeon-UKOR Tamás LőrinczHUN Decision by shutout (3 - 0)