Paris, France, August 6, 2024: Kyrgyzstan’s wrestlers won two medals at Paris 2024 on Tuesday, August 6 to put their country on the medals table at Champ-de-Mars Arena.
Meerim Zhumanazrova won the silver medal in the women’s freestyle 68kg and world champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov earned a bronze medal in men’s Greco-Roman 60kg.
They were the first medals of Paris 2024 for Kyrgyzstan.
Zhumanazrova, 24, had beaten Mongolia’s Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan 8-3 in the round of 16, Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki 8-6 in the quarter-final and Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu 3-1 in the semi-final to set up a gold medal showdown with Amit Elor of the United States in the final.
Two-time world 72kg champion Elor, 20, put up a wall of defense that Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Zhumanazarova was unable to penetrate in a 3-0 victory.
Elor, who cut weight for the first time in her life to make her first Olympics, scored the lone technical points of the match with a takedown off a counter, then added an activity point as she kept the 2021 world champion at bay with an underhook that thwarted any tackle attempts.
"I actually wrestled her a few times in international training camps when I was younger," Elor said of the 24-year-old Zhumananarova. "She's a little bit older than me, so those were pretty tough bouts. I know she is an extremely solid, strong wrestler, so my mindset going into the match was to be patient, stay in good position, and to trust in my style of wrestling and in my skills."
The head coach of the women’s freestyle wrestling team of Kyrgyzstan, Baigazy Kenzhebaev, said Zhumanazarova had wrestled well and reached the final thanks to her stubbornness. He also highlighted her technique, tactics and psychology in her four fights.
Sharshenbekov added an Olympic bronze to his two world golds when he got the roll in par terre in the first period and defeated Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (IRI) 3-1 at Greco 60kg.
Sharshenbekov completed a gut wrench from par terre in the first period, then held his ground while on bottom in the second to close with a victory.