Featherweight, Greco-Roman (≤60 kg), Men

In the featherweight division of the Greco-Roman wrestling style, only one of the top four seeded wrestlers missed a medal. That unfortunate fighter was #3 seed Victor Ciobanu from Moldova, who suffered an upset defeat in his first encounter by fall after less than five minutes against the unseeded Ri Se-Ung from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Ri went to the semi-final with a win by superiority over Uzbek athlete Islomzhon Bakhramov, confirming his excellent form. In the semi, the Korean met #2 seeded Chinese Cao Liguo and held on to a 3-3 draw after six minutes. Cao equalized Ri’s first period three-point lead in the second period. He benefited from the tie-breaker rule that said that, in case of a draw, the wrestler who scored last is awarded the victory on points. The unlucky Ri eventually won the bronze medal after another victory by superiority. His medal came 10 years after he won gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

The clear favorite in this division was #1 seed Zholoman Sharshenbekov, World champion in 2022 and 2023, and dominant in major tournaments for two years. In Paris, he won the first two rounds in style, but narrowly lost on points (4-3) in the semi-final against #4 seed Kenichiro Fumita. The Japanese competitor prevailed thanks to a spectacular four-point throw early in the second period. Although the Kyrgyz wrestler scored another two points, time ran out for him to turn the result around. Sharshenbekov had to be content with the bronze medal.

Cao Liguo had never done better than winning a bronze medal at an international event, like the 2023 World Championships. His opponent in the final, however, Fumita, had four World championship medals under his belt, including two golds (2017 and 2019) and an Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020. In the Paris final, rolling Cao gave Fumita a 3-0 lead in the first period. He added another point in the second period, calmly counterattacking Cao’s increasingly aggressive attacks towards the end. Fumita’s new “unspectacular” style of dynamic throwing and solid defense, developed after his disappointing loss in the Tokyo final, eventually took him to the top of the podium in Paris.