Defending Athens champ takes Women's 48kg bronze

(BEIJING, August 16) -- Ukraine's Irina Merleni defeated the United States' Clarissa Chun with a victory by fall for one of two bronze medals in the Women's Freestyle 48 kilogram Wrestling weight class on Saturday, August 16..

A five-time world championship medalist and the defending Olympic champion, Merleni took the first period against Chun 2-0, and went on to take the second period 4-1 in only 1:06 minutes.

In 2004, Merleni became the first Olympic gold medalist in Women's Wrestling history, since the event was only added in Athens and the 48kg weight class was the first category to compete.

Chun makes her Olympic debut at the Beijing Games after upsetting Athens bronze medalist Patricia Miranda at the 2008 US Olympic Wrestling Trials.