More than three years without defeat: wrestler Yevloyev won gold in one of the most anticipated fights of the Tokyo Olympics

Yevloyev's Golden Duel

One of the most anticipated events of the Olympic wrestling tournament in Tokyo was the duel between Musa Evloyev and Artur Aleksanyan. In none of the weight categories of Greco-Roman wrestling in recent years has there been a more acute and principled rivalry than between a Russian and an Armenian. Experts had little doubt that the two favorites would meet in the 97 kg division finals.

Their confrontation began in 2017, when Aleksanyan, in the status of an Olympic champion, came to the championship of the planet in Paris.

In the final, he met with Evloyev, who by that time did not yet have big titles.

The Armenian wrestler won, but with a modest difference of 3: 1, which made it clear that he had a worthy opponent.

A year later, they clashed in the semifinals in Budapest, and now a wrestler from Ingushetia, who easily won gold after that, took the upper hand.

The third battle of Aleksanyan and Evloyev was again awaited in the decisive battle of the World Championship, but the representative of Armenia then did not come out on the carpet due to injury.

He generally began to participate less often in competitions, but before the Olympics, two of her main favorites nevertheless crossed.

At the 2020 World Cup, the Russian was again stronger.

In Tokyo, the wrestlers received the first two seeding numbers, so they could not be afraid of an early meeting with each other. Yevloyev reached the final, winning three of his fights with a total score of 16: 4. Aleksanyan nominally performed slightly worse 13: 3, but his margin of safety in none of the fights raised doubts. However, after winning the semifinals, the Armenian required medical attention due to a possible leg injury.

Aleksanyan entered the final with a heavily taped hip and immediately, as soon as he joined the fight, made it clear that the pain really bothers him. However, he did not refuse the duel. Yevloyev, on the other hand, began to actively work in a rack and naturally deserved a parterre. When the roll-off failed, the Russian at the last moment tried to throw the opponent, and they ended up on the edge of the mat. The judges did not begin to award points, but the Russian side asked to review this episode.

As it turned out, Aleksanyan defended himself against the rules with his foot.

He was punished with two points and again sent to the ground.

On the second attempt, Yevloyev was able to bring the matter to the end and throw the opponent out of the circle.

He won the first period with a quite comfortable score 5: 0.

After the break, the referee gave Aleksanyan a chance and sent the Russian to the ground, but after the first attempt to lift the opponent, the Armenian broke the grip and refused to continue active actions on the mat - he could not lean on his knee.

In the rack, Yevloyev was motionless, like an Ingush tower.

He won the fight and brought the Russian team the first gold in wrestling at the Tokyo Olympics.

His personal win streak in international competitions has been going on for three years and four months.

Surkov's bronze limit

True, this success remained the only one for the Greco-Roman wrestling team.

Earlier, Sergei Semyonov and Sergei Emelin won bronze medals, and on the day of Yevloyev's final, Artyom Surkov missed the chance to compete for gold.

The native of Saransk competed in the weight category up to 67 kg, which could boast of the most powerful line-up of participants - in total, they won the Greco-Roman World Championships nine times.

Surkov was once the best wrestler in the world - in 2018 he won the highest award, and a year later in the final he lost to Olympic champion Ismael Borrero from Cuba.

The fans expected the two best classic featherweight wrestlers to compete for gold now, but the Cuban unexpectedly let him down.

In the first fight, he lost to the Georgian Ramaz Zoidze with a score of 2: 3.

Then two more world champions of past years, Balint Korpashi from Hungary and Ryu Han Su from South Korea, took off.

Surkov also made him worry about himself.

He met with a little-known American Alejandro Sancho.

The Russian earned a parterre at the beginning of the fight and added four more points to himself with two rolls, but he could not confidently win the first period.

In the last seconds, Sancho threw the Russian with a poker and reduced the gap to a minimum.

After the break, Surkov continued to fight so actively that he again sent his opponent to the ground and quickly brought his score to ten points.

Soon it became known that the last favorite of the competition, the three-time world champion Frank Stebler, flew out of the tournament grid.

Surkov remained the only wrestler who had a victorious experience at the world championships.

But he was not destined to get to the semifinals.

In the next fight, the Russian faced the Azerbaijani Parviz Nasibov, representing Ukraine. This time the wrestling on the ground did not help. Surkov twice got a chance to punish an opponent for passivity and a broken eyebrow, but both times Nasibov defended well. In the second period, the Ukrainian received such an opportunity from the judges, with which he earned one point. It was he who brought the 22-year-old wrestler the victory, as he turned out to be the last effective action in this fight.

Tomorrow Surkov will be able to fight for bronze thanks to the fact that Nasibov in his semifinals survived in a battle with the Egyptian Mohammed El Sayed and bounced back from the score 0: 5. It is with him in the event of a victory over the Dane Fredrik Bjerrehus that the Russian will meet in the fight for third place. Lyubov Ovcharova also finished her performances in the weight category up to 62 kg. In the 1/8 finals, she lost to Yukako Kawai, but since the Japanese woman was the favorite of her weight and reached the final, the Russian woman will perform in the consolation tournament.