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Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤84 kilograms), Men

Date 6 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationExCeL, Newham, London (North Arena 2)
Participants20 from 20 countries
FormatSingle elimination tournament. Competitors losing to the finalists entered repechage tournament for bronze medals.

The favorites going into the men’s light-heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling tournament were Hristo Marinov of Bulgaria, the 2010 World Champion, and Damian Janikowski of Poland, the 2011 World Championship silver medalist. Alim Selimov of Belarus was the reigning World Champion, a title he had held in 2005 as well, but was inconsistent on the world stage and not considered too dangerous in London. The tournament also had its share of Olympic veterans vying for the crown, including Egypt’s Karam Gaber, the 2004 Olympic champion in the heavyweight division, and Turkey’s Nazmi Avluca, who had made appearances at the 1996, 2000, and 2008 editions of the Games, the latter of which netted him a bronze medal. Nonetheless, it was expected that Marinov and Janikowski would be the most serious challengers for the crown.

In the end it was not to be – Marinov, Selimau, and Avluca were all eliminated in their first bout, Avluca by Janikowski and Selimau by eventual finalist Alan Khugayev of Russia, runner-up at the most recent European Championships. Janikowski survived to the semi-finals, where he was defeated by Gaber, who went on to face Khugayev in the finals. Both rounds of the gold medal match went to par terre, with Khugayev emerging victorious after a successful defense, and then gut-wrench, of his Egyptian opponent.

In the first bronze medal match, Daniyal Gadzhiyev of Kazakhstan, a rookie wrestler who had managed to defeat Marinov in his first bout and Selimau in the repêchage, and Vladimer Gegeshidze of Georgia, an unusually tall competitor for his weight class who had not seen the podium in his two World Championships. They were evenly matched in their first two rounds, each successfully defending in the par terre, while, with points and cautions tied 90 seconds into the third round, Gadzhiyev drew the top and Gegeshidze the bottom in the final par terre. During the round, it seemed at first that the Georgian had won, scoring two points by converting his defense. The Kazakhs protested and, in a controversial decision, the referee’s call was overturned and Gadzhiyev was awarded the point and, consequently, the bronze medal. Gegeshidze, seemingly a fair sport at first, refused to shake hands with his opponent and attempted to exit the arena the wrong way, before kicking at the barricades and storming off. The second bronze medal match, between Janikowski and Mélonin Noumonvi, a three-time Olympian and runner-up at the 2009 World Championships, was far less dramatic, with Janikowski successfully defending in the first par terre and throwing his opponent out of the ring in the second to clinch the bronze.

PosWrestlerNOC
1Alan KhugayevRUSGold
2Karam GaberEGYSilver
=3Daniyal GadzhiyevKAZBronze
=3Damian JanikowskiPOLBronze
=5Mélonin NoumonviFRA
=5Vladimer GegeshidzeGEO
7Pablo ShoreyCUB
8Vasyl RachybaUKR
9Chas BettsUSA
10Amer HrustanovicAUT
11Saman TahmasebiAZE
12Alim SelimauBLR
13Habibollah AkhlaghiIRI
14Nenad ŽugajCRO
=15Rami HietaniemiFIN
=15Haykel AchouriTUN
=15Nazmi AvlucaTUR
=18Hristo MarinovBUL
=18Lee Se-YeolKOR
20Keitani GrahamFSM

Round One (6 August 2012)

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

Match #1 Vladimer GegeshidzeGEO Bye
Match #2 Saman TahmasebiAZE Bye
Match #3 Vasyl RachybaUKR Bye
Match #4 Haykel AchouriTUN Bye
Match #5 Alan KhugayevRUS Bye
Match #6 Alim SelimauBLR Bye
Match #7 Daniyal GadzhiyevKAZ Bye
Match #8 Hristo MarinovBUL Bye
Match #9 Karam GaberEGY Bye
Match #10 Nenad ŽugajCRO Bye
Match #11 Mélonin NoumonviFRA Bye
Match #12 Rami HietaniemiFIN Bye
Match #13 Chas BettsUSA Keitani GrahamFSM Decision by shutout (7 - 0)
Match #14 Pablo ShoreyCUB Habibollah AkhlaghiIRI Decision (2 - 1)
Match #15 Amer HrustanovicAUT Lee Se-YeolKOR Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #16 Damian JanikowskiPOL Nazmi AvlucaTUR Decision by shutout (3 - 0)

Round Two (6 August 2012)

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

Match #1 Vladimer GegeshidzeGEO Saman TahmasebiAZE Decision (3 - 3)
Match #2 Vasyl RachybaUKR Haykel AchouriTUN Decision by shutout (3 - 0)
Match #3 Alan KhugayevRUS Alim SelimauBLR Decision by shutout (2 - 0)
Match #4 Daniyal GadzhiyevKAZ Hristo MarinovBUL Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #5 Karam GaberEGY Nenad ŽugajCRO Decision (3 - 1)
Match #6 Mélonin NoumonviFRA Rami HietaniemiFIN Decision by shutout (3 - 0)
Match #7 Pablo ShoreyCUB Chas BettsUSA Decision by shutout (2 - 0)
Match #8 Damian JanikowskiPOL Amer HrustanovicAUT Decision by shutout (5 - 0)

Quarter-Finals (6 August 2012)

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

Match #1 Vladimer GegeshidzeGEO Vasyl RachybaUKR Decision (3 - 4)
Match #2 Alan KhugayevRUS Daniyal GadzhiyevKAZ Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #3 Karam GaberEGY Mélonin NoumonviFRA Decision (4 - 5)
Match #4 Damian JanikowskiPOL Pablo ShoreyCUB Fall (3:32)

Semi-Finals (6 August 2012)

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

Match #1 Alan KhugayevRUS Vladimer GegeshidzeGEO Decision (6 - 1)
Match #2 Karam GaberEGY Damian JanikowskiPOL Decision (7 - 3)

Repêchage Round One (6 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to repêchage round two.

Match #1 Alim SelimauBLR Bye
Match #2 Nenad ŽugajCRO Bye

Repêchage Round Two (6 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to repêchage final.

Match #1 Daniyal GadzhiyevKAZ Alim SelimauBLR Decision (4 - 3)
Match #2 Mélonin NoumonviFRA Nenad ŽugajCRO Decision by shutout (3 - 0)

Repêchage Final (6 August 2012)

Match #1 Daniyal GadzhiyevKAZ Vladimer GegeshidzeGEO Decision (3 - 1)
Match #2 Damian JanikowskiPOL Mélonin NoumonviFRA Decision by shutout (2 - 0)

Final Round (6 August 2012)

Match 1/2 Alan KhugayevRUS Karam GaberEGY Decision by shutout (3 - 0)