Muradov wins sixth Russian wrestling gold

Shirvani Muradov wins the men's 96kg freestyle title to give powerhouse Russia their sixth and final wrestling gold medal at the Beijing Games. Spl: Beijing Olympics 2008HT Exclusive videos 1 | 2 | 3 |4 | 5

Shirvani Muradov won the men's 96kg freestyle title on Thursday to give powerhouse Russia their sixth and final wrestling gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

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The 23-year-old 2007 European champion beat Taimuraz Tigiev of Kazakhstan in the final.

The second period ended scoreless after the Russian scored a single takedown in the first.

But the Kazakh failed to extend the match into a third period after failing to score within the required 30 seconds, giving the title to Muradov.

"I did not fight to my full 100 per cent capacity but I am very happy," the Russian said. "Whatever you say, these are the Olympic Games."

It was the Russians' sixth wrestling gold medal at these Games -- three in men's freestyle and three in Greco-Roman.

Their bid for a seventh failed when former junior world champion Bakhtiar Akhmedov lost to Russia-born Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan, the defending Olympic champion, in the men's 120kg freestyle final today.

Meanwhile, Revazi Mindorashvili won Georgia's second wrestling gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, blotting out thoughts of the bloodshed back home while vanquishing the Russian world champion on his way to the final.

The 32-year-old shaven-headed former world champion won the men's 84kg freestyle title by points over Yusup Abdusalomov of Tajikistan in the final.