BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan retained his Olympic title by winning the men's freestyle 120kg wrestling final at the Beijing Olympic here on Thursday.
Taymazov defeated Russian Bakhtiyar Akhmedov in the super heavyweight final 2-0 (3-0, 1-0) to bring down the curtain of wrestling events at the Beijing Olympics in the China Agricultural University Gymnasium.
He also brought Uzbekistan its first gold at Beijing Games.
Taymazov, the winner at Athens 2004 Games, used a force out and two tackles to take the first period and then pushed Akhmedov out of the mat at the final seconds before the extra time to seize the victory.
He thus became the third wrestler to successfully defend the title at the Beijing Games Athens. The other two are Russian Mavelt Batirov in 60kg category and Buvaysa Saytiev in 74kg class.
"I have prepared for this moment for a long time. Nothing except a gold can satisfy me," said Taymazov. "I maintained a good stage last year but I couldn't manage to make achievement in World Championships. But this year, I did it with my good form."
"Each of my opponent was strong but the semifinal opponent was the most difficult. Of course the final was difficult too."
The 29-year-old who also won a silver in the Sydney Games, said that "I can't compare my three Olympic Games. Each one was difficult for me. I would like to give this gold to my country people, and to those who love me, trust me and respect me. I'm happy I did not disappoint them."
In the first bronze medal match, David Musulbes of Slovakia opened with a three-point double-leg takedown and closed with a cradle and roll to defeat Cuban Disney Rodriguez 2-0 (4-0, 4-2).
"It doesn't matter what colour the medal is. I have trained for this competition for a long time. What keeps driving me to perform is my love for wrestling," said Musulbes.
In the other bronze match, Marid Mutalimov of Kazakhstan won over Iranian Fardin Masoumi for a 2-0 (8-0, 1-1). He scored late to win the second period.
