On August 11 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, Akhmed Tazhudinov captured gold in the men’s freestyle 97kg wrestling at Paris 2024. Tazhudinov secured his victory with a decisive pin against Givi Matcharashvili midway through the first round, dominating the final match and finishing quickly.
“I had a year of training, and I was very focused,” Tazhudinov said after his win. He expressed gratitude to his team, acknowledging their support: “Without my coaches and everyone else supporting me, I wouldn’t be here.”
Earlier in the day, the first bronze medal match saw Magomedkhan Magomedov from Azerbaijan defeat Ukraine’s Murazi Mchedlidze. Magomedov reflected on his achievement, saying, “It wasn’t a real feat for me, but I came here, I won a medal. That’s at least something, and I’ll go back home.”
The second bronze went to Amirali Azarpira of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who overcame the USA’s Kyle Snyder. Snyder, who had previously won gold at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020, fell short of completing his Olympic medal set.
Men’s 97kg Wrestling Podium, Paris 2024:
- Gold: Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain)
- Silver: Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia)
- Bronze: Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan); Amirali Azarpira (Islamic Republic of Iran)
