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ATHENS, Aug 26: Greco-Roman wrestler Karam Ibrahim won Egypt's first Olympic gold medal in 56 years on Thursday, crushing Ramaz Nozadze of Georgia in just over three minutes to lift the 96kg title in Athens.
Ibrahim started in typically aggressive fashion, seeking quick points in a bid to assert control of the bout. He surrendered the first point, but then stormed back to clinch the tie 12-1.
"I like it each time when I reach a point," said the Egyptian. "This is why I make so many points. I have fun doing it." The Egyptian anthem was last played at a medals ceremony at the 1948 Games in London when the Arab state won two gold medals.
"I dedicate it to my country, my family and all the Arab nations," said Ibrahim. "I tried very hard and here I am now, an Olympic champion." In Athens, the Egyptian's opponents stood no chance as the tall, broad-shouldered wrestler used his strength and balance to win his bouts comfortably.
The bout was concluded before the clock ran out because Ibrahim achieved a winning margin of at least 10 points. Alexandr Dokturishivili of Uzbekistan won the 74kg gold after beating Marko Yli-Hannuksela of Finland 4-1, while Jung Ji-hyun of South Korea beat Cuban Roberto Monzon in a tight contest for the 60kg crown.
Russian Varteres Samourgachev earlier took the 74kg bronze medal after scoring an easy 10-0 victory over Reto Bucher of Switzerland. Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria, a gold medallist in the past two Olympics, won the 60kg bronze by over turning a 2-0 deficit against Alexey Shevtsov of Russia for a 4-3 score.
Nazarian won gold in Atlanta in 1996 as an Armenian before becoming a Bulgarian and winning another gold in Sydney in 2000. Meanwhile, even the world's strongest man Hossein Rezazadeh could not pull weightlifting out of the drugs mire which is threatening its Olympic future.
The Iranian icon summoned up all of his awesome power to set a new world record in the super heavyweight class by lifting the equivalent of two fridge freezers above his head but his amazing feat of strength did not silence the critics.
Rezazadeh, the sport's one true superstar, was confronted with the drugs issue - which has seen 10 weightlifters kicked out of the Olympics - at his victory press conference on Wednesday.
"Our (Muslim) religion forbids doping," he said. "It is up to athletes to compete properly and fairly. If doping cases continue there may have to be some action (by the International Olympic Committee)."
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) fear that the IOC may take another long, hard look at the sport's place in the Olympics and have promised even more Draconian measures against the drug cheats.
As a first step, the IWF will ban all weightlifters unmasked as drug cheats in Athens from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Herculean efforts of two-time world champion Rezazadeh on his way to winning a second straight Olympic gold were a blessing to the under-fire IWF.
There were gasps of amazement from the crowd on Wednesday as the 26-year-old colossus beat his own world mark in the clean and jerk with a stunning lift of 263.5kg.
He defeated his nearest rival by an astonishing 17.5kg to underline his seeming invinciblity. The drugs scandal which enveloped weightlifting helped write the final chapter in a Greek tragedy for competitors from the host country.
Gold-laden Greek weightlifters were the poster boys of the Olympics with their images on billboards, phone cards and soft drink cans but they won a solitary bronze and were engulfed in doping controversy.
Leonidas Sampanis was reduced to tears after being stripped of his 62kg bronze and triple Olympic champions Pyrros Dimas and Akakios Kakiasvilis failed in their bids for record fourth golds. -Agencies
MEDALS TABLE
ATHENS, Aug 26: Medals table at 1700 GMT on the 13th day of competition at the Olympics on Thursday: G S B T
United States 25 29 23 77
China 24 16 12 52
Australia 16 11 15 42
Russia 15 19 22 56
Japan 15 9 10 34
France 10 7 9 26
Germany 9 11 13 33
Italy 9 6 8 23
Romania 8 5 4 17
Ukraine 8 4 7 19
South Korea 7 10 5 22
Great Britain 7 8 10 25
Greece 6 4 3 13
Netherlands 4 7 8 19
Hungary 4 6 1 11
Sweden 3 1 2 6
Turkey 3 1 2 6
New Zealand 3 1 0 4
Spain 2 9 4 15
Cuba 2 4 7 13
Canada 2 4 1 7
Belarus 2 3 7 12
Poland 2 2 4 8
Slovakia 2 2 1 5
Georgia 2 2 0 4
Bulgaria 2 1 7 10
Brazil 2 1 2 5
Ethiopia 2 1 1 4
Taiwan 2 1 1 4
Thailand 2 0 3 5
Chile 2 0 1 3
Norway 2 0 0 2
Austria 1 4 1 6
Kenya 1 4 1 6
Czech Republic 1 3 4 8
Lithuania 1 2 0 3
Switzerland 1 1 3 5
Indonesia 1 1 2 4
South Africa 1 1 2 4
Zimbabwe 1 1 1 3
Morocco 1 1 0 2
Denmark 1 0 5 6
Azerbaijan 1 0 2 3
Belgium 1 0 2 3
Bahamas 1 0 1 2
Egypt 1 0 1 2
Israel 1 0 1 2
Jamaica 1 0 1 2
Cameroon 1 0 0 1
Iran 1 0 0 1
UAE 1 0 0 1
Uzbekistan 1 0 0 1
North Korea 0 3 1 4
Mexico 0 3 0 3
Croatia 0 2 2 4
Kazakhstan 0 2 2 4
Portugal 0 2 1 3
Finland 0 2 0 2
Latvia 0 2 0 2
Slovenia 0 1 3 4
Estonia 0 1 2 3
Hong Kong 0 1 0 1
India 0 1 0 1
Serbia & M'negro 0 1 0 1
Argentina 0 0 3 3
Colombia 0 0 2 2
Eritrea 0 0 1 1
Mongolia 0 0 1 1
Trinidad & Tobago 0 0 1 1
Venezuela 0 0 1 1
