Men's Freestyle Wrestling will continue on Wednesday, August 20 and produce one gold medal each in the 66 kilogram and 74 kilogram weight classes.
Men's Freestyle 66kg
2008 European champion Ramazan Shahin is one of the possible winners. The 25-year-old did fairly well in past two years, taking a bronze medal in the 2007 European Championship and a gold medal in the World Championship the same year.
Athens eighth place Serafim Barzakov of Bulgaria could fulfill his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal this time. The 33-year old veteran has been wrestling well internationally, taking one bronze each in the 2006 and 2007 European Championships. He also won the 2005 World Championship.
Geandry Garzón of Cuba also has a shot at the gold medal. He has been a medalist in three consecutive World Championships (2005, 2006 and 2007), including a silver medal in 2007.
Other medal candidates include 2007 World Championship bronze medalist Irbek Farniev of Russia, 2006 World Championship bronze medalist Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine and 2007 World Championships bronze medalist Otar Tushishvili of Georgia.
The qualification round will start at 9:30 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8), followed by a repechage round at 4:00 p.m. The bronze medal match will begin at 5:00 p.m., and the gold medal bout will kick off 20 minutes later.
Men's Freestyle 74kg
The Beijing Olympic Games will be Russian legend Buvaysa Saytiev's fourth Olympic journey. The 33-year-old won his first Olympic gold medal in this category in Atlanta and won his second in Athens. His recent major success was a gold medal in the 2006 European Championship.
Ibragim Aldatov of Ukraine is a raising star in this category. The 24-year-old won the 2006 World Championship and took a silver medal the following year.
Another possible winner is Athens bronze medalist Iván Fundora of Cuba. The 32-year-old veteran took another bronze medal in the 2007 World Championship. If he and Saytiev meet in the final, it will be one of the most exciting bouts in this tournament.
Other possible medalists are Athens silver medalist Arsen Gitinov of Kyrgyzstan, 2007 World Championships bronze medalist Chamsulvara Chamsulvarayev of Azerbaijan and 2006 World Championships bronze medalist Soslan Tigiev of Uzbekistan.
The qualification round will start at 9:30 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8), followed by a repechage round at 4:00 p.m. The bronze medal match will begin at 5:55 p.m., and the gold medal bout will begin 20 minutes later.
(BOCOG, August 20, 2008)