MEDAL MATCHES FOR AUGUST 20: Russia's Saytiev wins his third gold and Turkey wins one also

BEIJING, CHINA - On the second day of men's freestyle wrestling at the Beijing Summer Olympics, the gold medal at 74 kg/163 lbs. went to one of the greatest wrestlers in history, Buvaysa Saytiev of Russia, who won his third career Olympic gold medal.

Saytiev defeated Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan, 0-1, 1-0, 3-0, in the gold-medal match. Although he lost the first period, Saytiev came back to sweep the final two periods, including scoring three points in the deciding third period.

Saytiev won gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics and now the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He joins the great Alexander Medved of the Soviet Union, who won Olympic titles in 1964, 1968 and 1972, as the only two wrestlers to claim three Olympic freestyle gold medals.

Saytiev also competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he was beaten by American Brandon Slay and did not medal.

In addition to his three Olympic gold medals, Saytiev has won six World Championships gold medals, making him a true legend in Olympic wrestling.

The other gold medal went to 2007 World champion Ramazan Sahin of Turkey, who beat Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine, 2-2, 2-1, 2-2 in the finals at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Stadnik won the first period on a two-point gut wrench, but Sahin came back to win the second period. The deciding third period went to Sahin for scoring the highest point technique, a two-point exposure.

The first bronze medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. went to Otar Tushishvili of Georgia, who defeated Geandry Garzon of Cuba, 3-0, 1-1. Tushishvili hit a gut wrench in the first period, and won the second period by scoring the last point of the period in the final seconds.

The other bronze medalist at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. was Sushil Kumar of India, who stopped Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan, 2-1, 0-1, 1-0. The third and deciding period went to the clinch. Spiridonov won the ball selection and secured the leg, but Kumar scored the point by countering successfully on defense.

The two bronze medals at 74 kg/163 lbs. went to Murad Gaidarov of Belarus and Kiril Terziev of Bulgaria.

Gaidarov defeated Gheorghita Stefan of Romania in two periods, 2-1, 3-1. Terziev upset 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Ivan Fundora of Cuba, 6-5, 5-3, getting his offense going in both periods.

OLYMPIC GAMES
Men's freestyle wrestling
At Beijing, China, August 20

66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Ramazan Sahin (Turkey)
Silver - Andriy Stadnik (Ukraine)
Bronze - Otar Tushishvili (Georgia)
Bronze - Sushil Kumar (India)
5th - Geandry Garzon (Cuba)
5th - Leonid Spiridonov (Kazakhstan)
7th - Irbek Farniev (Russia)
8th - Batzorig Buyanjav (Mongolia)
9th - Albert Batyrov (Belarus)
10th - Mehdi Taghavi (Iran)
14th - Doug Schwab (United States)

Gold match - Sahin dec. Stadnik, 2-2, 2-1, 2-2
Bronze match - Tushishvili dec. Garzon, 3-0, 1-1
Bronze match - Kumar dec. Spiridonov, 2-1, 0-1, 1-0

60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Buyaysa Saytiev (Russia)
Silver - Soslan Tigiev (Uzbekistan)
Bronze - Murad Gaidarov (Belarus)
Bronze - Kiril Terziev (Bulgaria)
5th - Gheorghita Stefan (Romania)
5th - Ivan Fundora (Cuba)
7th - Ben Askren (USA)
8th - Arsen Gitinov (Kyrgyzstan)
9th - Emzarios Bentinidis (Greece)
10th - Ahmet Gulhan (Turkey)

Gold match - Saytiev dec. Tigiev, 0-1, 1-0, 3-0
Bronze match - Gaidarov dec. Stefan, 2-1, 3-1
Bronze match - Terziev dec. Fundora, 6-5, 5-3