Ghasem Rezaei

Ghasem Rezaei (Persian: قاسم رضايى‎, born 18 August 1985) is an Iranian former Greco-Roman wrestler. He was an Olympic gold and bronze medalist and two-time Asian Champion. His nickname is Tiger of Amol.[1]

Ghasem Rezaei

Rezaei at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Ghasem Gholamreza Rezaei
Born	18 August 1985 Amol, Iran
Alma mater	Master's degree of Physical Education
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	100 kg (220 lb)
Website	www.instagram.com/ghasem.rezaei
Sport
Country	Iran
Sport	Greco-Roman wrestling
Club	Takhti Amol Melli Haffari
Coached by	Saeed Shirzad
Medal record Representing  Iran Men's Greco-Roman wrestling Olympic Games 2012 London 96 kg 2016 Rio 98 kg World Championships 2007 Baku 96 kg 2014 Tashkent 98 kg 2015 Las Vegas 98 kg Asian Championships 2006 Almaty 84 kg 2007 Bishkek 96 kg 2008 Jeju City 96 kg World Youth Championship 2005 Vilnius 84 kg Asian Youth Championship 2004 Almaty 84 kg

Career

Rezaei first success at the international level was 2007 when he won bronze in the 2007 World Wrestling Championships. However, his run at the top of the wrestling world was be short-lived. Though he represented Iran in the 2008 Olympics, he suffered early defeat in the first round. Rezaei two success won the gold medal at the 2007 Asian Wrestling Championships and 2008 Asian Wrestling Championships. In 2009, Rezaei found himself unable to compete due to injury.[2]

At the 2011 Greco-Roman World Championship, Rezaei was scheduled to face Israeli Robert Avanesyan in the first round.[3] Rather than face the Israeli, Rezaei failed to appear and thus lost the match by forfeit to the Israeli, was eliminated from the tournament, and gave the Israeli free passage into the Round of 16.[3][4][5]

In the years leading up to the 2012 games, Rezaei was unable to recapture his status as Iran's top Greco-Roman wrestler at 96 kilograms. In 2012 Rezaei won the Olympic berth for his country. Rezaei in final defeated Rustam Totrov 2–0, 1–0 in the final at the Excel Center in London on Tuesday.[6] Rezaei beat Turkey Cenk Ildem in his first match, before he beat Artur Aleksanyan 2–0, 1–0 in the quarter-finals. Rezaei defeated Yunior Estrada also 2–0, 1–0 in the semi-finals. He won the gold medal in the men's 96 kg Greco-Roman at the 2012 London Olympics in London.[7][8] Ghasem Rezaei captured gold medal at 2015 International Greco-Roman wrestling tournament, Pytlasinski in Poland. Rezaei in 2015 World Championship won a silver medal at the Greco-Roman 2015. He with Elis Guri 3–0 in the semi-finals, and qualified for the final bout, where he conceded a 3–0 defeat to Artur Aleksanyan and won the silver.[9] Rezaei ended up in Bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling competitions in the men's 96 kg Greco-Roman at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.[10] Rezaei in his last Olympic game stood in front of Carl Fredrik Schön. Schön went up 4–0 after a takedown and gut wrench in the first period. The Iranian in the second period scored with back-to-back gut wrenches to make the score 4–4 and ultimately give him the victory on criteria.[11]

See also

• Boycotts of Israel in individual sports

References

1. Ghasem Gholamreza Rezaei | Yahoo Sports
2. Ghasem Rezaei Results in ESPN
3. "Karimi Told To Throw Match, Ignites Iranian Controversy"
4. "Iranian Wrestler Refused to Compete Against Israeli of Armenian Origin," Epress.am.
5. "Sports Shorts" - Israel News, Haaretz.
6. Ghasem Rezaei wins another gold for Iran
7. "London 2012 Wrestling: Iran's Ghasem Gholamreza Rezaei Won Gold Medal in Men's 96kg Greco-Roman". Kabir News. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
8. Olympics wrestling: Ghasem Rezaei wins another gold for Iran – BBC
9. Iran Greco-Roman wrestler Rezaei wins silver at World Championships
10. Alle Olympiasieger – Ringen bis 96 kg – Ghasem Rezaei
11. Ghasem Rezaei Seizes Iran’s Second Greco-Roman Wrestling Bronze