TEHRAN – Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Mohammadali Geraei won a gold medal at the 2024 Wrestling World Championships in Tirana, Albania Tuesday night.

In the 82kg final, Geraei was not to be denied in his first chance at world gold, as he stormed to a 9-0 victory over a shell-shocked Erik Szilvassy from Hungary.

Geraei, normally a 77kg wrestler who was competing at the heaviest weight of his career, encountered no problems handling the extra bulk against Szilvassy, a winner of international tournaments this year in Zagreb and Budapest.

After a quick stepout, Geraei stopped an attempted throw by Szilvassy for a takedown, then transitioned immediately to a gut wrench. An unsuccessful challenge by the Hungary side padded Geraei's lead to 6-0 just a minute into the match.

Geraei, who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics but missed the Paris Games due to a suspension, then completed a snap-down, go-behind takedown to finish the match in 1:35 and add the world gold to the bronzes he won at 71kg in 2017 and at 77kg in 2019 and 2021.

“After eight years, I finally got to experience the world finals,” Geraei said. “I’m truly happy from the bottom of my heart because I could make my fans and family happy, especially my dear wife, who stood by me in tough times and understood me, as well as my parents and all my fans.

“I'm grateful to them; they have always been there for me and supported me, and I dedicate this medal to them.”

“I thought this competition would be really tough, but thank God it ended up being easy," Geraei said.

“These past two or three years have been difficult for me, and due to certain circumstances, I couldn't participate in the Olympics and missed out on it. But I hope with this medal I won, I can pave my way to the [next] Olympics and achieve the best medal and my dream,” he concluded.

Poya Dad Marz also won a silver medal in the 55kg.

The Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler lost to Eldaniz Azizli of Azerbaijan.

 Azizli defeated 2023 bronze medalist Dad Marz for the fourth time in four career meetings, but this one was the closest as he won 1-1 on last-point criteria after each received a passivity point.

It was an ironic defeat for Dad Marz, who had been on the winning end of the same scoreline in his two previous matches. In their most recent encounter at the Budapest Ranking Series in June, Azizli had bested the Iranian 6-1.

Romanian Denis Mihai and Emin Sefershaev S(AIN) won bronze medals.