Artur ALEKSANYAN of Armenia returned to the mat for the first time since he suffered from rib injury during the Nur-Sultan world wrestling championships in 2019. Due to the injury 2016 Olympic champion Armenian had to settle for the silver medal. 28 year old Artur is now completely recovered from his injury to finish at top of the podium in France at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix wrestling event.
“I felt good about (my performance), taking into account that it was my first tournament back,” Aleksanyan told United World Wrestling.
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The three-time world and Rio Olympic champion went 4-0 on his way to the 97kg gold medal in Nice, France. He outscored Kevin MEJIA (HON) and Valerian MURVANIDZE (GEO) 18-0 in his first two matches and locked up a spot in semifinals.
“The White Bear” scored a one-point (2-1) semifinal win over Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR), then downed Orkhan NURIEV (AZE), 3-1, in the gold-medal match.
“It took a while to recover after my injury, but I feel much better now. This is why I decided to participate in Nice, so after that, I can participate in the European Championships,” said Aleksanyan.
Greco-Roman Results
55kg – Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) df. Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
60kg – Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO), 9-0
63kg – Levan KAVJARADZE (GEO) df. Kerim MACHALIKASHVILI, via default
67kg – Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) df. Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO), 8-0
72kg – Ulvu GANIZADEH (AZE) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV, 6-2
77kg – Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) df. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM), 5-2
82kg – Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO), 2-1
87kg – Kiril MASKEVICH (BLR) df. Nikolai STADUB (BLR), 8-1
97kg – Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Orkhan NURIEV (AZE), 3-1
130kg – Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) df. Nurmakhan TINALIEV (KAZ), via default