The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 21) -- Three-time Olympian Uzbekistan's Artur Taymazov successfully defended his title in the Men's Freestyle Wrestling 120 kilogram category by defeating Russia's Bakhtiyar Akhmedov in the final on Thursday, August 21.
Twenty-nine-year old Taymazov went to the final in his previous two Olympic journeys. He took a silver medal in Sydney and eventually won a gold medal in Athens. Since then he won a gold medal in the 2006 World Championship and 2006 Asian Games. In contrast to Taymazov's long record of success, 21-year-old Akhmedov was the best new prospect in this category. The young wrestler only began senior level competition in 2007 and has already taken a bronze medal in the 2008 European Championships.
In the final, Taymazov controlled the bout well. He used his experience to buffer Akhmedov's attack and won the first period 3-0. The second period was a repeat of the first one, during which Akhmedov still could not find a chance to score and lost it 1-0.
This gold medal is not only Taymazov's third consecutive Olympic medal (second gold medal), but also is Uzbekistan's first gold medal in Beijing.
