Mijaín López, the Cuban wrestler who was forged in the dust of the field and is an Olympic legend

Mijaín López, the Cuban wrestler who was forged in the dust of the field and is an Olympic legend

The Cuban guy Mijain Lopezthe colossus of the Greco-Roman fightbecame this Tuesday Paris 2024 the first athlete to win five gold medals in the same individual event Olympic Games.

López completed the feat by beating the Cuban-born Chilean Yasmani Acosta 6-0 in the final of the 130-kilo category to the applause of 7,000 spectators at the Campo de Marte stadium.

Lopez celebrated the feat by lifting his two trainers into the air before kneeling down himself and proceeding to leave his shoes on the mat, a tradition for retired wrestlers.

The president of the Olympic Committee himself, Thomas Bachcame to this venue in front of the Eiffel Tower to congratulate the iconic wrestler, who also presented the Caribbean island’s first gold medal in Paris 2024.

“The mission is accomplished,” Mijaín said with a huge smile. “I’m very happy. This is a very important achievement in my life,” said the Cuban, encouraged during the fight by shouts of “Lopez, Lopez.”

Mijaín used his incomparable experience, power and agility to easily overcome Acosta, whose silver medal is Chile’s second at these Games.

This fighter left Cuba in 2015 precisely because of the lack of opportunities he received during Mijaín’s glorious Olympic career, although Mijaín maintained a good relationship and continued to give him advice even during the Paris tournament itself.

“I have a mixture of many feelings,” Acosta admitted after the defeat. “You always want to win gold, but at the same time I’m happy because Mijaín López, the legend of world wrestling, retired with me.”

The gladiator from the small town of Herradura closed as he wanted a legendary career in which Since Beijing 2008 he has not found a rival of his height.

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After finishing fifth in her debut at Athens 2004, López built her Olympic legend by sweeping titles in Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and now Paris, between 2008 and 2024.

This four gold medals placed him in an exclusive club alongside swimmers Michael Phelps (200m medley) and Katie Ledecky (800m freestyle), athletes Carl Lewis (long jump) and Alfred Oerter (discus throw), all of them Americans, Dane Paul Elvstrom (sailing) and Japanese Kaori Icho (wrestling). On Monday, Mijaín established his own place in the Olympic Olympus in Paris.

The triumph of the 130-kilogram gold medal fighter, who will turn 42 in two weeks, was celebrated with shouts and applause in Herradura, the small town surrounded by mountains, humble houses and dusty streets where he honed his prodigious physique working in the fields.

Mijaín himself had promised his compatriots this fifth championship that his own rivals considered almost inevitable.

His prodigious conditions and talent allowed him to overwhelm his four opponents in Paris, including world champion Amin Mirzazadeh, despite the fact that he had not competed since Tokyo 2020 to protect a physique that, according to his trainer Raúl Trujillo, has suffered four herniated discs.

Mijaín’s successes also represent a balm of hope for the Cuban sport, whose Olympic results are in decline, impacted by the economic situation of the island and the departure of many of its figures..

Unlike Olympic champions like boxers Andy Cruz or Guillermo Rigondeaux, López remained on the island that venerates him and always defended the sporting legacy of the Cuban Revolution.

If in 2021 he dedicated his fourth gold in Tokyo to the late Fidel Castro, on Tuesday Mijaín hoped to speak with the current Cuban president, Miguel Díaz Canel, who the day before encouraged him for the decisive fight.

Source: Ambito

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