Russian Gatsalov takes men's 96kg freestyle wrestling Olympic gold

Russian Khadjimourat Gatsalov clinched the men's 96kg freestyle wrestling Olympic gold in Athens on August 29 afternoon, beating Magomed Ibragimov from Uzbekistan 4-1 in the final.

This was the last gold medal of the 18-gold wrestling competition at the Athens Olympic Games which would conclude this evening.

Russia, a traditional powerhouse in wrestling, collected a total of five golds in the tournament.

Gatsalov, 22, controlled the game tightly and did not give any chance to Ibragimov, 21, to overtake him.

The bronze medal went to Iranian Alireza Heidari, the sliver medalist of the 2003 Worlds, who edged American Daniel Cormier, a fifth-place finisher in the 2003 Worlds, 3-2.