Paris 2024 wrestling: Amouzad’s quest for Olympic glory ends with silver, Azarpira bags bronze
Iranian freestyle wrestlers Rahman Amouzad Khalili and Amir Ali Azarpira secured two more medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday, bringing Iran's final tally to 12 medals.
Amouzad, 22, put up a valiant fight against his Japanese opponent, Kotaro Kiyooka, in the gold-medal match of the men’s 65kg category, and ultimately settled for silver.
The former junior world freestyle champion advanced to the title clash on Sunday with an impeccable record, having won his previous three bouts without conceding a point—8-0, 11-0, and 10-0 respectively.
Amouzad began his Paris Olympic campaign on Saturday with an 8-0 victory over Zain Allen Retherford of the US, followed by a dominant 11-0 win against European champion Islam Dudaev from Albania.
In the semifinals, he overwhelmed former world and European champion Ismail Musukaev of Hungary with another convincing 10-0 victory to secure his place in the gold-medal match.
Rahman Amouzad loses to Japan's Kotaro Kiyooka 10-3 in the men’s freestyle wrestling 65kg final to settle for a silver medal, the 11th medal so far for Iran at the Paris Olympics.#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/7geCDrqqrE
— Press TV at Paris Olympics (@presstvsports) August 11, 2024
Azarpira, who initially lost his first bout to world champion Akhmed Tazhudidov of Bahrain 3-4 on Saturday, secured another chance through the repechage after Tazhudidov advanced to the final.
On Sunday, he defeated Alisher Yergali of Kazakhstan 6-1 before facing former world and Olympic champion Kyle Snyder of the US in the 97kg bronze medal match.
In a nail-biting encounter, the 22-year-old former U23 gold medalist triumphed over his celebrated American opponent with a final score of 4-1, earning a bronze medal for Iran.
Azarpira’s bronze brought Iran's overall medal count at the Paris Olympics to 12—three golds, six silvers, and three bronzes—placing the nation in 21st position at the time of this report.
Amir Ali Azarpira beats former world and Olympic champion from the US Kyle Snyder in the men's freestyle 97kg bronze medal match to add the 12th and last medal to Iran’s tally at the Paris Olympics 2024.#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/8bRgGWMFiu
— Press TV at Paris Olympics (@presstvsports) August 11, 2024
The only time Iran won more Olympic medals was at the London 2012 Olympics – 13 medals, which included 7 gold medals.
Iran was represented at the Paris 2024 Olympics by 40 athletes at the marquee sports event, including 29 men and 11 women, competing in 13 sports disciplines.
As in previous Olympic Games, wrestling and taekwondo brought Iran the majority of its medals.
China currently leads the medal standings with 90 medals, including 39 golds. The US is in second place with 123 medals, including 38 golds, while Japan ranks third with 44 medals, including 19 golds.
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