Cuba's Borrero Molina and Russia's Vlasov score first wrestling gold medals at Rio Olympic Games

Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) takes on Shinobu Ota (Japan) in the 59 kg finals. Photo: Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com.

RIO DE JANEIRO – As day one of Greco-Roman wrestling came to a close at the 2016 Olympic Games, the defending World champion duo of Ismael Borrero Molina and Roman Vlasov found themselves with gold around their necks for the second-straight year.


Cuba’s Borrero Molina silenced his critics with a show-stopping performance in the 59 kg gold medal match. The top-ranked wrestler in the World continued his run at the top with an impressive 8-0 technical fall over World No. 12 Shinobu Ota of Japan.


With the win, Borrero earned Cuba its fourth Olympic champion and twelfth overall Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. The last Cuban to achieve the feat was heavyweight Mijain Lopez Nunez in 2012, who will compete for his third Olympic gold tomorrow.


Russia’s Vlasov was able replicate the success he found at the 2012 Olympic Games today in Rio, but it was not without its challenges. He outlasted fellow 2012 Olympic champion Hyeon-Woo Kim of Korea in the opening round, 7-6, and was nearly pinned in his semifinal victory over Bozo Starcevic of Croatia.


In the 75 kg gold medal match, Vlasov won Russia its 11th Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling with a hard-fought 5-2 win over World No. 3 Mark Madsen of Denmark. This was a rematch of the 2015 World finals also won by Vlasov, who now owns two Olympic titles, two World titles and a World silver medal.


Unfortunately for the 31-year-old Madsen, the gold medal remains ever-elusive. Today’s silver gives him a total of five runner-up finishes at the World Championships and Olympic Games combined.


Winning bronze medals at 59 kg were World No. 9 Elmurat Tasmuradov of Uzbekistan and World No. 8 Stig-Andre Berge of Norway.


In a wild, back and forth affair, Tasmuradov toppled World No. 7 Arsen Eraliev of Kyrgyzstan, 13-8, to become only the second wrestler from Uzbekistan to win an Olympic medal. Aleksander Dokturishvili picked up the gold for Uzbekistan at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Tasmuradov won World bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 to go along with his bronze in Rio.


At 33 years of age, Berge became Norway’s fourth Olympic medalist and the first since Jon Ronnigen won gold in 1992 with a 1-1 criteria decision over four-time World medalist and two-time Olympic runner-up Rovshan Bayramov of Azerbaijan. Berge was a World bronze medalist in 2014.


World No. 4 Hyeon-Woo Kim of Korea and World No. 10 Saeid Morad Abdvali of Iran came through for bronze medals at 75 kg.


Kim was the 66 kg champion at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, but the Korean fell short in his repeat bid. In the bronze medal bout, Kim downed World No. 17 Bozo Starcevic of Croatia, 6-4. Kim earned Korea’s sixteenth Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.


In 2011 Abdvali was on top of the World, but the Iranian has been unable to find a place on the World podium since. He finally broke through in Rio with a 5-2 victory over 2014 World champion Peter Bacsi of Hungary in bronze medal match. Abdvali became just the sixth Iranian to win an Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.


It was a tough day for the U.S. squad as Jesse Thielke and Andy Bisek both fell in the quarterfinals and were not eligible to wrestle back for a medal. Thielke finished in ninth place overall at 59 kg, while Bisek came in 12th place at 75 kg.


The Greco-Roman tournament will resume at 9 a.m. (ET) tomorrow morning with 85 kg and 130 kg. Wrestling for the U.S. will be two-time Olympian Ben Provisor and the always entertaining Robby Smith.


Every match from the 2016 Olympic Games can be viewed live courtesy of NBC at NBCOlympics.com. Complete brackets and match-by-match results can be found at unitedworldwrestling.org.

2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

Aug. 14-21 at Carioca Arena 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Final Results
59 kg/130 lbs.

Gold – Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba)

Silver – Shinobu Ota (Japan)

Bronze – Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan)

Bronze – Stig-Andre Berge (Norway)

5th – Arsen Eraliev (Kyrgyzstan)

5th – Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan)

7th – Almat Kebispayev (Kazakhstan)

8th – Lumin Wang (China)

9th – Jesse Thielke (United States)

10th – Won Chol Yun (DPR Korea)


Medal Matches

Gold – Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) tech. fall Shinobu Ota (Japan), 8-0

Bronze – Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) dec. Arsen Eraliev (Kyrgyzstan), 13-8

Bronze – Stig-Andre Berge (Norway) dec. Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan), 1-1

75 kg/165 lbs.

Gold – Roman Vlasov (Russia)

Silver – Mark Madsen (Denmark)

Bronze – Hyeon-Woo Kim (Korea)

Bronze – Saeid Morad Abdvali (Iran)

5th – Bozo Starcevic (Croatia)

5th – Peter Bacsi (Hungary)

7th – Elvin Mursaliyev (Azerbaijan)

8th – Viktor Nemes (Serbia)

9th – Bin Yang (China)

10th – Doszhan Kartikov (Kazakhstan)


Medal Matches

Gold – Roman Vlasov (Russia) dec. Mark Madsen (Denmark), 5-1

Bronze – Hyeon-Woo Kim (Korea) dec. Bozo Starcevic (Croatia), 6-4

Bronze – Saeid Morad Abdvali (Iran) dec. Peter Bacsi (Hungary), 5-2

U.S. Greco-Roman Results

59 kg/130 lbs. – Jesse Thielke, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 9th

WIN El Mahadi Messaoudi (Morocco), 8-0

LOSS Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan), 9-0


75 kg/165 lbs. – Andy Bisek, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Minnesota Storm), 12th

WIN Yurisandy Hernandez Rios (Cuba), 1-0

LOSS Bozo Starcevic (Croatia), 2-0