TEHRAN – Saeid Esmaeili of Iran won a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games Thursday night.

He defeated Parviz Nasibov of Ukraine 6-5 in the 67kg final of Greco-Roman.

Esmaeili had edged out Tokyo champion Mohammedreza Geraei in a playoff to book his ticket to Paris and the 21-year-old offered a glimpse of his form with a 9-0 rout of Cuban Luis Orta to move on to the final.

Orta had moved up after winning the 60kg gold in Tokyo but had to settle for bronze in Paris.

Iranian wrestlers Mohammadhadi Saravi and Amin Mirzazadeh have previously won a gold and a bronze medal in the 97kg and 130kg, respectively.

Greco-Roman wrestling has been a blue-ribbon Olympic event ever since the first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896. It became a permanent fixture on the Olympic program in 1908.

Reporting by Masoud Hossein