Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤130 kg), Men

Mijaín López was definitely the dominant Greco-Roman super-heavyweight wrestler of the last two decades. The Cuban athlete not only won gold at five Pan American Games, but also at five World championships (plus three silver medals). In Tokyo, he became the first wrestler to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same division. In recent years, however, he had not appeared in major international events, and entered the Paris Olympics as an unseeded wrestler. Therefore, he met the favorite and reigning World champion, the Iranian Amin Mirzazadeh, at the quarter-final stage. López won by 3-1 on points, after scoring his three points early in the contest. In the semi-final, López downed the Rio 2016 bronze medalist, the Iranian-born Sabah Şəriəti from Azerbaijan, by 4-1.

In the final, López faced Yasmani Acosta from Chile, who was not considered a potential medal winner. His greatest success prior to Paris 2024 was a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships. Like López, he was born in Cuba, where he did not see a chance to further develop his career in the shadow of López. He stayed in Chile after competing there at the Pan American Championships in 2015. Two years later, he was allowed to represent Chile, and made his Olympic début in Tokyo 2020, placing fifth. His way to the Paris final was characterized by very tight wins, scoring a total of 4-3 points compared to 14-2 points for López.

López, just short of his 42th birthday, defeated the 36-year-old Acosta in the final in superior style, dominating both periods, scoring a total of 6-0. After the victory, he got down on his knees and kissed the mat. Then, he took off his shoes and placed them in the center of the mat - a common gesture of wrestlers ending their careers. Acosta’s silver was Chile’s first ever wrestling medal at the Olympics.

The three top-seeded athletes found themselves wrestling for bronze. Mirzazadeh ousted Şəriəti 4-0, while the second bronze medal match brought together two of Acosta’s “victims”, the #3 seed Meng Lingzhe of China and #2 seed Abdellatif Mohamed of Egypt. Eventually, Meng won bronze 5-2 on points.