3 yıl önce

Turkey's Adar makes history with Olympic bronze in women's wrestling

Meanwhile, wrestler Riza Kayaalp won a bronze medal for Turkey in men's Greco-Roman 130 kilogram in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

AA

Yasemin Adar (red) of Turkey celebrates winning bronze medal after defeating Aiperi Medet Kyzy (not seen) of Kyrgyzstan during the Women's freestyle 76 kg wrestling bronze medal match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan on August 02, 2021.

Turkey’s Yasemin Adar has won a bronze medal in the Tokyo 2020 Games, making her the country's first-ever Olympic medalist in women's wrestling.

Adar won a bronze in the freestyle 76-kg match by pinning down her Kyrgyz opponent Aiperi Medet Kyzy.

Adar had a 4-0 lead in the match at Makuhari Messe Hall.

Ranked 44th in the Tokyo 2020 medal count, Turkey has so far won five Olympic medals, including a gold in men's archery. The Olympics will run through Sunday.

Yasemin Adar of #TUR takes #bronze in the #Wrestling women’s freestyle 76kg.#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @wrestling pic.twitter.com/pdA9tZi5YC
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 2, 2021

Adar hopes historic bronze will ease pain of wildfire-hit Turkey

Adar said becoming her country's first woman Olympic medalist in wrestling on Monday was tinged with sadness due to the raging wildfires in her country, but she hoped her bronze in Tokyo would give people back home a reason to smile.

Adar and China's Zhou Qian both claimed bronze medals in the freestyle heavyweight category in which German Aline Rotter-Focken took gold and American Adeline Gray won silver.

"I'm thrilled ... I'm very excited to be achieving a first, honoured to be representing my country and it means so much more because my country is having a difficult time with wildfires," Adar told reporters.

"I'm not able to describe my emotions, but I hope from the bottom of my heart that my medal gives my people a glimpse of hope and joy in these difficult times."

"Turkish women are really strong and we're now extra motivated by the wildfires, it makes us want to make our people happy, even more than usual," Adar added.

Of her personal achievement, Adar said, "I'm excited about how I'll be welcomed by my fellow Turkish athletes at the Olympic Village. Mete Gazoz (the gold medalist in men's archery) had a hero's welcome there this weekend. It gave me a lot of hope and strength."

AA

Yasemin Adar (R) of Turkey celebrates winning bronze medal on the podium after defeating Aiperi Medet Kyzy (not seen) of Kyrgyzstan during the Women's freestyle 76-kg wrestling bronze medal match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan on August 02, 2021.

Adar said she hoped to compete again in Paris 2024.

Adar, the first Turkish woman to win a wrestling medal at the Olympics, had pinned Tunisia's Zaineb Sghaier in the repechage match, and did the same against Kyrgyzstan's Aiperi Kyzy while Zhou pinned Japan's Hiroe Minagawa.

Turkish wrestler wins Olympic bronze in 130-kg Greco-Roman

Turkish wrestler Riza Kayaalp won a bronze medal in men's Greco-Roman 130 kilogram in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Monday.

Kayaalp, 31, defeated Iran's Amin Mirzazadeh 7-2 to bag his third Olympic medal.

It’s a third Olympics medal for Rıza Kayaalp of #TUR in the men's Greco-Roman #Wrestling 130kg, this time a #bronze!#StrongerTogether | @Tokyo2020 | @wrestling pic.twitter.com/LJEUJtK2tt
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 2, 2021

Kayaalp won his third Olympic medal in the Greco-Roman super heavyweight bronze bout, seeing off Iran's Mirzazadeh with a series of powerful point-scoring turns.

Kayaalp rolled the 130-kg Iranian around like a rag doll on the mat to take a 7-0 lead at the break, eventually winning 7-2.

AA

Bronze medalist Turkey's Riza Kayaalp (2nd R) and gold medalist Mijain Lopez Nunez (2nd L) of Cuba pose for a photo at podium after men's greco-roman 130-kg wrestling during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan on August 2, 2021.

The other bronze medal match was a more even contest between Sergei Semenov and Chile's Yasmani Acosta, finishing 1-1, but it was the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) wrestler who claimed the win having scored the last technical point.

China's Walihan Sailike and ROC's Sergey Emelin took the Greco-Roman bantamweight bronze medals.

Lopez leads Cuban gold rush with fourth Greco-Roman crown

Cuba's Mijain Lopez signed off from his fifth Olympics with a record fourth gold medal after winning the Greco-Roman super heavyweight final on Monday, minutes after compatriot Luis Alberto Orta won gold in the bantamweight category.

Lopez, who made his Olympic debut in 2004 and is the first male wrestler to win four Olympic golds, was calm and composed in his bout against Georgia's Iakobi Kajaia, who took silver.

At Rio 2016, Lopez celebrated with a salsa-infused, hip-shimmy dance but this time the 38-year-old settled for tackling his coach who had sprinted onto the mat with the Cuban flag.

Lopez took a 3-0 lead into the break with a gut wrench and turn and made it 5-0 with a step out point before Kajaia conceded with 10 seconds remaining.

Orta beat Japan's Kenichiro Fumita 5-1 in the Greco-Roman bantamweight final.