Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤67 kilograms), Men

No strong favorite existed in this class although Cuba’s Ismael Borrero was seeded first, based mostly on his 2019 World Championship. However, he was beaten in his first match by Georgian Ramaz Zoidze, losing on points, 3-2. That left the event wide open as only Egypt’s Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed made it to the semi-finals among the seeds – El-Sayed was seeded second based mostly on titles at the African Championships and Games.

The first semi-final matched Zoidze against Iran’s Mohammadreza Geraei, who was the World U-23 Champion in 2019 and also won the Asian Championships that year. Geraei had little trouble with Zoidze, shutting him out en route to a 6-0 victory. In the other semi El-Sayed faced Ukraine’s Parviz Nasibov, with the unseeded Nasibov advancing via a tight 7-6 decision.

The final was not close as Geraei won gold by technical superiority, ending the match at 4:09 while leading 9-1. El-Sayed had some consolation in taking bronze, but by the narrowest of margins. He met Artyom Surkov, a ROC team member, and only won the match on a judges’ decision after they tied at 1-1. The other bronze went to German Frank Stäbler, who was competing in his third Olympics, but won his first medal.