SYDNEY The great Alexandre Kareline was sensationally beaten for the first time in 13 years as his proud unbeaten streak came to a sorry end on Wednesday in the 130kg Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling final.
The huge Russian seemed lethargic throughout his bout with Rulon Gardner of the U.S.
After being penalized a single point for breaking his grip during a clinch, he simply couldn't recover the score. It was only the second point kareline had conceded in 10 years, but it was to prove so costly.
The three-time Olympic champion and nine-time world champion just could not force a point against the American, despite fighting for an extra three minutes during overtime.
Five seconds from the end of time Kareline gave a resigned shake of his head, acknowledging his defeat.
In nine minutes of wrestling, he had never got close to scoring.
Gardner carried the "Stars and Stripes" on a lap of honor after the customary mat-invasion from ecstatic coaches and training staff.
Joyful Coach Dan Chandler said: "It is a great day for American wrestling." Gardner said: "I just went out there to weather the storm. He still felt incredibly strong at the end but it was getting easier to move him.
"I could tell he didn't have that fire. I still had to push; I couldn't relax for one second of the nine-minute period." When asked if he thought he could beat Kareline, Gardner replied: "Honestly, I didn't think I could." Spectacular The other finals produced a combination of spectacular throws and elaborate celebrating as the Greco-Roman wrestling competition came to an exciting close.
First up was the 58kg final between the world champion from South Korea, Kim In-Sub, and Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria.
Kim got off to a flying start by scoring three points with a low throw to take the lead.
But then the Bulgarian, who is dubbed the Nazarian Airline for his ability to make opponents fly, took over and won by swamping Kim with some dynamic throws.
The Bulgarian celebrated victory with a back somersault and declared: "Tonight I'm going to party." That was followed by another demolition in the 69kg category.
Filiberto Azcuy of Cuba thrashed Kazuhiko Nagata of Japan, quickly notching up 11 points with a flurry of throws to win by technical superiority.
The last gold medalist, Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey, refused to be outdone and he too performed a back flip after victory.
Yerlikaya had narrowly beaten Sandor Istvan Bardosi of Hungary.
(Reuter)