Kim Hyeon-woo became the first South Korean to win gold in lightweight Greco-Roman wrestling.
Korean champ only took up professional wrestling two years ago
Kim Hyeon-woo became the first South Korean to win gold in lightweight Greco-Roman wrestling after he beat Hungary's Tamas Lorincz.
Kim had stunned the crowd by defeating reigning champion Steeve Guenot in the semi-finals and he registered an impressive 1-0, 2-0 win over his opponent in tonight's -66kg gold medal showdown.
Kim only took up professional wrestling two years ago but the 21-year-old won the Asian Championships on debut and was in complete control of the fight.
The South Korean used all his strength to successfully defended a par terre in the first period and then lifted his opponent in the second to seal the win in front of a raucous sell-out crowd in London.
The two bronze medals went to Georgia's Manuchar Tskhadaia and Guenot after they defeated German Frank Staebler and Pedro Mulens Herrera of Cuba in the finals of the repechage.
Iran won their third Greco-Roman wrestling gold in as many days after Ghasem Rezaei beat Russia's Rustam Totrov in tonight's heavyweight final.
Rezaei had overcome a big height disadvantage to beat Cuba's Yunior Estrada Falcon in the semi-final and he further delighted the vast number of raucous Iranians inside the ExCeL tonight by winning gold with a 2-0, 1-0 win.
Rezaei, 26, could only finish 16th in Beijing four years ago, but he took his
first Olympic final in his stride this evening, lifting his opponent off the mat to win the first period before successfully defending a par terre in a tense second.
Iran had not won any golds in the Greco-Roman discipline before London 2012, but now they have three after Rezaei followed up the success of his fellow countrymen Hamid Soryan and Omid Noroozi.
Earlier in the -96kg category two bronze medals went to Armenia's Artur Aleksanyan and Swede Jimmy Lidberg after they defeated Falcon and Tsimafei Dzeinichenka in the finals of the repechage.
