Russian wrestler Buvaysa Saytiev wins third Olympic freestyle gold

Published Wednesday August 20th, 2008

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING - Russian wrestler Buvaysa Saytiev has won a record-tying third Olympic freestyle gold medal.

Enlarge Photo

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Saurabh Das

The referee watches as Buvaysa Saytiev, of Russia, in blue, overpowers Kiril Terziev, of Bulgaria, in the 74 kilogram category of men's freestyle wrestling competition of the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008.

Saytiev matched his golds of 1996 and 2004 by defeating Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan 0-1, 1-0, 3-1 at 74 kilograms on Wednesday.

The only previous three-time freestyle gold medallist was the Soviet Union's Alexander Medved in 1964, 1968 and 1972.

The 33-year-old Saytiev was forced to wrestle his way back onto the Russia's team after being beaten out a year ago by the eventual world champion.

The bronzes were won by Murad Gaidarov of Belarus and Kiril Terziev of Bulgaria.

Vancouver's Matt Gentry was eliminated in the first round by Greece's Emzarios Bentinidis.

Please Log In or Register FREE

You are currently not logged into this site. Please log in or register for a FREE ONE Account.

Logged in visitors may comment on articles, enter contests, manage home delivery holds and much more online. Your ONE Account grants you access to features and content across the entire CanadaEast Network of sites.