ATHENS, 27 August 2004 — Greco-Roman wrestler Karam Ibrahim won Egypt’s first Olympic gold medal in 56 years yesterday, crushing Ramaz Nozadze of Georgia in just over three minutes to lift the 96kg title in Athens.
Ibrahim started in typically aggressive fashion, seeking quick points in a bid to assert control of the bout. He surrendered the first point, but then stormed back to clinch the tie 12-1.
“I like it each time when I reach a point,” said the Egyptian. “This is why I make so many points. I have fun doing it.” The Egyptian anthem was last played at a medals ceremony at the 1948 Games in London when the Arab state won two gold medals.
“I dedicate it to my country, my family and all the Arab nations,” said Ibrahim. “I tried very hard and here I am now, an Olympic champion.” In Athens, the Egyptian’s opponents stood no chance as the tall, broad-shouldered wrestler used his strength and balance to win his bouts comfortably.
Ibrahim blew kisses to the crowd and bowed as they applauded his win achieved in just over half the allotted six-minute period.
The bout was concluded before the clock ran out because Ibrahim achieved a winning margin of at least 10 points. Alexandr Dokturishivili of Uzbekistan won the 74kg gold after beating Marko Yli-Hannuksela of Finland 4-1, while Jung Ji-hyun of South Korea beat Cuban Roberto Monzon in a tight contest for the 60kg crown.
Russian Varteres Samourgachev earlier took the 74kg bronze medal after scoring an easy 10-0 victory over Reto Bucher of Switzerland. Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria, a gold medalist in the past two Olympics, won the 60kg bronze by overturning a 2-0 deficit against Alexey Shevtsov of Russia for a 4-3 score. Nazarian won gold in Atlanta in 1996 as an Armenian before becoming a Bulgarian and winning another gold in Sydney in 2000.
Taiwan Sweep Two Olympic Taekwondo Gold Medals
• World champion Chu Mu-Yen led Taiwan’s sweep of two gold medals on the first day of the Olympic taekwondo contest yesterday but hometown hero Michalis Mouroutsos crashed to what he called a refer error.
Chu beat Mexico’s Oscar Salazar in the men’s under-58kg flyweight final 5-1.
His compatriot Chen Shih-Hsin outpointed world silver medalist Yanelis Labrada of Cuba in the women’s under-49 flyweight final earlier in the day.
Chu and Chen lifted Taiwan’s first-ever Olympic taekwondo gold since the Korean-born combat sport made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Games when the country took two bronzes.
The flyweight contests on the first day of the four-day contest did not feature any competitors from South Korea, who grabbed four out of eight gold medals in Sydney.
Greece’s Mouroutsos, who triumphed in the men’s flyweight in Sydney, lost to Tamer Bayoumi of Egypt 10-3 in the quarterfinals before a roaring home crowd.
“The referee did not give one or two points that I deserved,” he said after the fight. “On the contrary, they gave my opponent three points that came out of nowhere.”
In the men’s final, Chu and Blanco exchanged several kick attempts without scoring a point in the first three-minute round.
But the 22-year-old world champion scored three kicking points in the second round and finished the match at 5-1.
Bayoumi, who upset Mouroutsos, took the bronze by beating Juan Ramos of Spain 9-4 after losing to Chu in the semifinals and fighting back through the consolation round.
The women’s final saw the two fighters fight even in the first two-minute round at two points each. But the 25-year-old Chen went ahead to 5-3 in the second round.
She kept her points lead in the third round to win her first-ever global title at 6-4.
Yaowapa Boorapolchai of Thailand narrowly outpointed Colombian Gladys Alicia Mora Romero in the playoff for bronze.
Moiseev Wins Gold in Modern Pentathlon
• Andrey Moiseev won the men’s modern pentathlon at the Athens Olympics yesterday finishing so far ahead of his rivals that he was able to stop and drape himself in the Russian flag before crossing the line.
Moiseev went into the final leg cross-country run with an 11-second lead over the field and immediately showed his rivals a clean pair of heels to runaway with the gold.
The multi-discipline sport is staged over 10 grueling hours with a 3,000-meter cross-country run, pistol shooting, fencing, swimming and show jumping.
Andrejus Zadneprovskis of Lithuania finished second with 5428 points after starting the final leg in sixth place while Libor Capalini of the Czech Republic crossed the line third to take bronze with 5392 points after they both set off 33 seconds behind Moiseev.
Zadnepovskis was helped out by his Lithuanian teammate Edvinas Krungolcas who allowed Zadnepovskis to lap him during the running leg then acted as his pacemaker.
Officials said there was nothing in the rules preventing teammates from helping each other and Zadnepovskis said it made no difference anyway.
Italy Win Women’s Gold in Overtime
• Melania Grego scored the winning goal in overtime to give Italy a 10-9 win over Greece in the women’s Olympic water polo final yesterday, Italy’s first gold medal in the event.
The 31-year-old Italian driver capped a three-goal night with a lob shot past goalkeeper Georgia Ellinaki to finish a fast break in the second overtime period.
“I happened to be in the right place at the right time and I — we — were successful,” Grego told a news conference. In a seesaw game where the lead changed hands five times, Greece and Italy tied 7-7 at the end of regulation time before a packed, noisy home crowd at the 11,000-seat main Olympic pool.
Greece seemed to have put the game away when driver Kyriaki Liosi and centre back Aikaterini Oikonomopoulou each scored early in the first of two overtime periods.
