Mijain Lopez: One more step to the historic fifth Olympic gold

On 3 August French judoka Teddy Riner claimed his fifth Olympic gold cementing his legendary status. Two days later another legend, Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez started his journey for the gold medal in the fifth consecutive Olympic Games.

41 years old Lopez missed all the major tournaments after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but returned to action to win his fifth Olympic title. Already a legend, Lopez wants to become the only athlete to win an individual gold medal in five consecutive Summer Olympic Games.

Lopez started his journey with three confident wins and reached the final of the men’s Greco-Roman wrestling -130 kg category. In the quarter-final, he defeated reigning world champion Amin Mirzazadeh from Iran. 

Mijain Lopez (red) defeated Azerbaijan's Shariati in the semi-final bout. GETTY IMAGES

Lopez will wrestle Chile’s Yasmani Acosta on 6 July for the gold medal bout.

In the Greco-Roman wrestling -60 kg category Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) stunned reigning world champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) to reach the final. He will wrestle China’s Liguo Cao for the gold medal. Cao was trailing 1-3 in his semi-final bout against North Korea’s Su Ung Ri but scored two points in the last second to secure his place in the final.

In the women’s wrestling -68 kg Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova defeated two-time world champion Nonoka Ozaki (Japan) and will face USA’s Amit Elor in the final.