Shirvani Muradov won the men's 96kg freestyle title Thursday to give powerhouse Russia their sixth and final wrestling gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
The 23-year-old 2007 European champion beat Taimuraz Tigiev of Kazakhstan in the final.
The second period ended scoreless after the Russian scored a single takedown in the first.
But the Kazakh failed to extend the match into a third period after failing to score within the required 30 seconds, giving the title to Muradov.
‘I did not fight to my full 100 percent capacity but I am very happy,’ the Russian said. ‘Whatever you say, these are the Olympic Games.’
Muradov had big wrestling shoes to fill, having taken the place of Athens Olympics champion, and world champion, Khadzimourad Gatsalov in the Russian team.
Tigiev failed to make it to the post-match news conference because he had a flight to catch for home, organisers said.
Muradov said he did not know if this distracted the Kazakh.
‘Maybe he was a bit upset but I don't know,’ he added.
Muradov said the scheduling of the Olympic competition put a lot of stress on the athletes because they had to fight through qualification and all the way to the medal rounds in a single day, with ‘just 15-20 minutes’ of rest in between the early matches.
‘Five bouts in one day is very difficult,’ he said. ‘It's very hard to prepare oneself for the next bout.’
It was the Russians' sixth wrestling gold medal at these Games - three in men's freestyle and three in Greco-Roman.
