Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
Men			Women
	55 kg			48 kg
	60 kg			55 kg
	66 kg			63 kg
	74 kg			72 kg
	84 kg
	96 kg
	120 kg
Greco-Roman
	55 kg			84 kg
	60 kg			96 kg
	66 kg			120 kg
	74 kg

Wrestling competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, were held at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium from August 12–21, 2008. It was split into two disciplines, Freestyle and Greco-Roman which are further divided into different weight categories. Men competed in both disciplines whereas women only took part in the freestyle events with 18 gold medals being awarded. This was the second Olympics with women's wrestling as an event.The Swedish wrestler, Ara Abrahamian protested the Bronze medal he won in the 84 kg Greco Roman event after he felt that the judges made an improper call which cost him the match against the eventual gold medal recipient, Andrea Minguzzi from Italy.

Medal summary

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia (RUS)	6	3	2	11
2	Japan (JPN)	2	2	2	6
3	Georgia (GEO)	2	0	2	4
4	China (CHN)	1	2	0	3
5	Uzbekistan (UZB)	1	1	0	2
6	United States (USA)	1	0	2	3
7	Canada (CAN)	1	0	1	2
7	France (FRA)	1	0	1	2
7	Turkey (TUR)	1	0	1	2
10	Cuba (CUB)	1	0	0	1
10	Italy (ITA)	1	0	0	1
12	Ukraine (UKR)	0	2	3	5
13	Azerbaijan (AZE)	0	2	2	4
14	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	0	1	4	5
15	Bulgaria (BUL)	0	1	3	4
16	Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)	0	1	1	2
17	Germany (GER)	0	1	0	1
17	Hungary (HUN)	0	1	0	1
17	Tajikistan (TJK)	0	1	0	1
20	Armenia (ARM)	0	0	2	2
20	Belarus (BLR)	0	0	2	2
22	Colombia (COL)	0	0	1	1
22	South Korea (KOR)	0	0	1	1
22	Lithuania (LTU)	0	0	1	1
22	Poland (POL)	0	0	1	1
22	Iran (IRI)	0	0	1	1
22	India (IND)	0	0	1	1
22	Slovakia (SVK)	0	0	1	1
Total		18	18	35	71

Men's events

Freestyle

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
55 kg	Henry Cejudo United States (USA)	Tomohiro Matsunaga Japan (JPN)	Besik Kudukhov Russia (RUS)
			Radoslav Velikov Bulgaria (BUL)
60 kg	Mavlet Batirov Russia (RUS)	Vasyl Fedoryshyn Ukraine (UKR)	Morad Mohammadi Iran (IRI)
			Kenichi Yumoto Japan (JPN)
66 kg	Ramazan Şahin Turkey (TUR)	Andriy Stadnik Ukraine (UKR)	Sushil Kumar India (IND)
			Otar Tushishvili Georgia (GEO)
74 kg	Buvaisar Saitiev Russia (RUS)	Soslan Tigiev Uzbekistan (UZB)	Murad Gaidarov Belarus (BLR)
			Kiril Terziev Bulgaria (BUL)
84 kg	Revazi Mindorashvili Georgia (GEO)	Yusup Abdusalomov Tajikistan (TJK)	Taras Danko Ukraine (UKR)
			Georgy Ketoev Russia (RUS)
96 kg	Shirvani Muradov Russia (RUS)	Taimuraz Tigiyev Kazakhstan (KAZ)	Georgi Gogshelidze Georgia (GEO)
			Khetag Gazyumov Azerbaijan (AZE)
120 kg	Artur Taymazov Uzbekistan (UZB)	Bakhtiyar Akhmedov Russia (RUS)	David Musuľbes Slovakia (SVK)
			Marid Mutalimov Kazakhstan (KAZ)

Greco-Roman

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
55 kg	Nazyr Mankiev Russia (RUS)	Rovshan Bayramov Azerbaijan (AZE)	Roman Amoyan Armenia (ARM)
			Park Eun-Chul South Korea (KOR)
60 kg	Islambek Albiev Russia (RUS)	Vitaliy Rahimov Azerbaijan (AZE)	Nurbakyt Tengizbayev Kazakhstan (KAZ)
			Ruslan Tumenbaev Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)
66 kg	Steeve Guenot France (FRA)	Kanatbek Begaliev Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)	Mikhail Siamionau Belarus (BLR)
			Armen Vardanyan Ukraine (UKR)
74 kg	Manuchar Kvirkelia Georgia (GEO)	Chang Yongxiang China (CHN)	Christophe Guenot France (FRA)
			Yavor Yanakiev Bulgaria (BUL)
84 kg	Andrea Minguzzi Italy (ITA)	Zoltán Fodor Hungary (HUN)	Nazmi Avluca Turkey (TUR)
			vacant*
96 kg	Aslanbek Khushtov Russia (RUS)	Mirko Englich Germany (GER)	Asset Mambetov Kazakhstan (KAZ)
			Adam Wheeler United States (USA)
120 kg	Mijaín López Cuba (CUB)	Khasan Baroyev Russia (RUS)	Mindaugas Mizgaitis Lithuania (LTU)
			Yuri Patrikeyev Armenia (ARM)

*Ara Abrahamian of Sweden originally won one of the two bronze medals in the 84 kg weight class but was disqualified by the IOC after he stepped off the podium and dropped his medal in the center of the mat to protest the officiating.

CAS hearing

The Court of Arbitration for Sport also held a hearing based on the request which was issued by Abrahamian and the Swedish Olympic Committee against the FILA. Preceding the hearing, CAS declared in a statement that Abrahamian and the SOC "do not seek from the CAS any particular relief" regarding the ranking of the medals or a review of the IOC decision to exclude Abrahamian from the Games.

Following the CAS issued an arbitration strongly criticizing FILA. Not challenging the outcome of the match and the technical judgments, the arbitration stated that the FILA is required to provide an appeal jury capable to deal promptly with the claims of the athletes. The chairman of the SOC, Stefan Lindeberg, commented that the decision once and for all shows that FILA did not act correctly and that they did not follow their own rules of fair play.

Women's events

Freestyle

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
48 kg	Carol Huynh Canada (CAN)	Chiharu Icho Japan (JPN)	Mariya Stadnik Azerbaijan (AZE)
			Irina Merleni Ukraine (UKR)
55 kg	Saori Yoshida Japan (JPN)	Xu Li China (CHN)	Tonya Verbeek Canada (CAN)
			Jackeline Rentería Colombia (COL)
63 kg	Kaori Icho Japan (JPN)	Alena Kartashova Russia (RUS)	Yelena Shalygina Kazakhstan (KAZ)
			Randi Miller United States (USA)
72 kg	Wang Jiao China (CHN)	Stanka Zlateva Bulgaria (BUL)	Kyoko Hamaguchi Japan (JPN)
			Agnieszka Wieszczek Poland (POL)

Qualification

For more details on this topic, see Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Qualification.

See also

List of World and Olympic Champions in men's freestyle wrestling

List of World and Olympic Champions in Greco-Roman wrestling

United States results in men's freestyle wrestling

References

• U.S. Olympic Team & Weight Class Previews
• International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
• Fila Wrestling Beijing 2008
• Olympic Committee