Georgia's Revazi Mindorashvili leapt into the arms of his coach with delight on Thursday after knocking Russian favourite Georgy Ketoev out of the finals of the men's 84kg freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games.
The Georgian team considered pulling out of the Olympics two weeks ago amid fighting in their homeland, after Georgia tried to recapture a pro-Russian separatist enclave and Russian forces rolled into Georgia to conduct a powerful counter-offensive.
In a hard-fought bout enlivened by constant roaring of instructions from the Georgian bench, the two wrestlers struggled to pin each other down.
But the 32-year-old Georgian, 2005 world title holder and 2006 runner-up, gained a clear lead in technical points, winning the bout 5-0 in two periods.
World and European champion Ketoev had been favourite to win another wrestling gold for Russia in the 84kg freestyle.
He lay panting on the mat and declined the offer of a hand up from the Georgian, who paraded around the ring in triumph, stabbing his index finger to his chest.
