Mijaín López:
world champion
for the third time
• The Graeco-Roman wrestler, in
the 120-k category, has become the first Cuban with
three golds in world championships
GRECO-Roman wrestler Mijaín López was crowned
world champion for the third consecutive time in the
World Wrestling Championship, which took place in
the Danish city of Herning.
López beat Iraqi Salman Ali Madhin, Venezuelan
Rafael Barrera, and Belarusian Ioseb Chugoshvili,
bronze medal winner at the 2008 European
Championships. In the semifinals he triumphed over
Turk Riza Kayaalp, the world youth champion, to
reach the finals. There he competed for the title
against his well-known rival, U.S. Dremiel Byers,
whom he defeated in only two periods 2-0, 4-1. The
Cuban wrestler’s performance was almost perfect,
given that he allowed only one point in the final
match.
In Herning’s MCH Arena, the Cuban team, led by
trainer Pedro Val, won three other titles: bronze
medals taken by Pedro Isaac (60) y Pablo Shorey
(84), the latter on September 26, giving the team
fifth place overall and a ticket to the 2010 World
Cup.
The third Cuban in action on September 27 was
Raúl Consuegra (74), who with one win and one loss
placed 14th in a division controlled by Turk Selcuk
Cebi.
The top teams placed as follows: 1: Turkey (44
points), 2: Iran (39), 3: Azerbaijan (38), 4: Russia
(31), 5: Cuba (26), 6: Hungary and Georgia (both
with 19), 8: Denmark, Sweden, and Uzbekistan (17).
