ISTANBUL, Turkey - Americans Roye Oliver and Ron Cole both won gold medals at the Veterans Freestyle World Championships this past weekend.

Oliver, from Oceanside, Calif., beat Turkey's Bekir Sahinal to win the Veterans World title at 85 kg/187.25 lbs. in Division D (51-55 years old).

"It was tougher than I thought it would be," Oliver said. "By the grace of God, I was able to win it. My toughest opponent was the World champion from Iran in the semifinals. He actually won the first period from the clinch position, but I came back. I had a Turkish wrestler in the finals in front of the home crowd. He headbutted me. I wasn't threatened by him at all. When I beat the Iranian wrestler, I knew I could win.

"You have to be serious about the Veterans Worlds. If you don't train and are not prepared, and do not wrestle physically, you can't win it. I am blessed that I prepared well and was in good enough shape to win my matches."

Cole, from Auburn, Wash, beat Romania's Ambrus Lubovic in the finals at 97 kg/213.75 lbs. in Division E (56 and over).

"I couldn't see anybody touching him in the E Division," Oliver said. "He was too powerful for his opponents. He believed in himself and he went out and won it. Ron is very strong for his age."

American Brad Swartz of Auburn, Wash., won a bronze medal while U.S. wrestlers Steve Barkman of Bloomsbury, N.J., Mark Black of Santa Monica, Calif., Shirzad Ahmadi of Coventry, Conn. and Donald Apodaca of Huntington Beach, Calif. each won bronze medals.

Americans James Phills of Stanford, Calif. and Gerald Silva each placed fifth. Also from the U.S., Craig Johnson of Broomfield, Colo. placed eighth and Jim Lucas of Santa Cruz, Calif. finished ninth.

Results from the Division A competition will be posted when they become available.

VETERANS FREESTYLE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, AUG. 3-5, ISTANBUL, TURKEY

DIVISION A (35-40)

58 KG/127.75 LBS.
Gold - Ismail Zurnaci (Turkey)
Silver - Remzi Osman (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Jahar Rashidi (Iran)
Bronze - Miri Arizollah (Iran)

63 KG/138.75 LBS.
Gold - Kemal Gajmagomedov (Kazakhstan)
Silver - Armen Sheroyan (Armenia)
Bronze - Dashi Garmaev (Russia)
Bronze - Gafor Abasipor (Iran)

69 KG/152 LBS.
Gold - Fatih Ozbas (Turkey)
Silver - Ramazan Aydin (Germany)
Bronze - Pour Vallolah (Iran)
Bronze - Rovshan Guliyev (Azerbaijan)

76 KG/167.5 LBS.
Gold - Kazem Narimani (Iran)
Silver - Melek Abdulmuttalip (Turkey)
Bronze - Sedat Dagdemir (Germany)
Bronze - Alisultan Kachalaev (Russia)

85 KG/187.25 LBS.
Gold - Ali Reza Rahmati (Iran)
Silver - Hassan Jafaraian (Iran)
Bronze - Faramarz Delavari (Iran)
Bronze - Andrzej Koscielski (Poland)

97 KG/213.75 LBS.
Gold - Halnir Ali Mohammed (Iran)
Silver - Metin Kilic (Turkey)
Bronze - Stoynov Nirolay (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Veliyev Elkhan (Ukraine)

130 KG/286 LBS.
Gold - Tahir Yilmaz (Turkey)
Silver - H. Azarpira (Iran)
Bronze - Jaspal Singh (India)
Bronze - Ali Reza Safari (Iran)

DIVISION B (41-45)

58 KG/127.75 LBS.
Gold - Esmael Yoosefzadeh (Iran)
Silver - Mehmet Sarikaya (Turkey)
Bronze - Suleyman Kenger (Turkey)
Bronze - Alan Berezov (Ukraine)

63 KG.138.75 LBS.
Gold - Baghban Hossein (Iran)
Silver - Negad Hassein (Iran)
Bronze - Jerome Conte (France)
Bronze - Haci Kucuksarac (Turkey)

69 KG/152 LBS.
Gold - Mohammad Khan (Iran)
Silver - Kurt Remzi (Turkey)
Bronze - Aleksej Kostirev (Latvia)
Bronze - Atalay Sendogan (Turkey)

76 KG/167.5 LBS.
Gold - Ioannis Ataanasiadis (Greece)
Silver - Magomed Kurammagomedov (Russia)
Bronze - Moradi Iraj (Iran)
Bronze - Sahin Zahir (Turkey)

85 KG/187.25 LBS.
Gold - Samad Nejadi (Iran)
Silver - Miradam Gasymov (Russia)
Bronze - Georgi Georgiev (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Igor Zadnepryannyy (Kazakhstan)

97 KG/213.75 LBS.
Gold - Akbar Ali Jirsaraei (Iran)
Silver - Vadym Korytnyi (Ukraine)
Bronze - Dovestoni Hossein (Iran)
Bronze - Hidemitsu Yugawa (Japan)

130 KG/286 LBS.
Gold - A. Roudbari (Iran)
Silver - Alexandru Ballai (Romania)
Bronze - Unlu Eyup (Turkey)
Bronze - Erten Imdat (Turkey)

DIVISION C (46-50)

58 KG/127.75 LBS.
Gold - Hassan Nejad Maghsod (Iran)
Silver - Ozden Yakup (Turkey)
Bronze - H. Ali Jamshidi (Iran)
Bronze - Khosro Rashidi (Iran)

63 KG/138.75 LBS.
Gold - Zhora Hovhannisyan (Armenia)
Silver - Susumo Hashivra (Japan)
Bronze - Ruslan Adziev (Russia)
Bronze - Sevinc Bedrettin (Turkey)

69 KG/152 LBS.
Gold - Yusuf Esmael Poor (Iran)
Silver - Zakiy Bikbulatov (Russia)
Bronze - Ali Rastgo Karam (Iran)
Bronze - Alexandr Acherkas (Russia)

76 KG/167.5 LBS.
Gold - Khajavi Ali (Iran)
Silver - Brad Swartz (USA)
Bronze - Matthias Darnstedt (Germany)
Bronze - Vadolah Dadashi (Iran)

85 KG/187.25 LBS.
Gold - Oleg Krapivin (Azerbaijan)
Silver - Nikolay Kazakov (Russia)
Bronze - Zeanolabeden Babei (Iran)
Bronze - Istvan Jaszkai (Hungary)

97 KG/213.75 LBS.
Gold - Amdrey Shmygarez (Latvia)
Silver - Rozbeh Sharghi (Iran)
Bronze - Victor Graur (MDA)
Bronze - Jean Daniel Gachoud (SUI)

130 KG/286 LBS.
Gold - Ayik Nuri (Turkey)
Silver - Sergey Pokatilo (Ukraine)
Bronze - Ralf Lenz (Germany)
Bronze - Akbar Afrashteh (Iran)
Also:
Fifth - James Phills (USA)

DIVISION D (51-55)

58 KG/127.75 LBS.
Gold - Ozdag Kamil (Turkey)
Silver - Mehmet Mehmedov (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Mahtab Hossein (Iran)
Bronze - Yevgeniy Lim (Kazakhstan)

63 KG/138.75 LBS.
Gold - Hossein Touranian (Iran)
Silver - Boris Semenov (Russia)
Bronze - Aurel Yvis (France)
Bronze - Steve Barkman (USA)

69 KG/152 LBS.
Gold - Ehrhard Pocher (Germany)
Silver - James Hawthorn (Great Britain)
Bronze - Jan Patrick (France)
Bronze - Soganci Suphi (Turkey)
Also:
Eighth - Craig Johnson (USA)

76 KG/167.5 LBS.
Gold - M. Koushanfar (Iran)
Silver - Bernd Radestock (Germany)
Bronze - Mark Black (USA)
Bronze - Bektas Mustafa (Turkey)

85 KG/187.25 LBS.
Gold - Roye Oliver (USA)
Silver - Bekir Sahinal (Turkey)
Bronze - Mican Presi (Czech Republic)
Bronze - Abofi Rahim (Iran)

97 KG/213.75 LBS.
Gold - Kartar Singh (India)
Silver - Jamsid Ghadri (Iran)
Bronze - Omar Sanargaliev (Kazakhstan)
Bronze - Pishva Ali (Iran)

130 KG/286 LBS.
Gold - Manucharian (Ukraine)
Silver - Taskin Ayhan (Turkey)
Bronze - Arshadi Parviz (Iran)
Bronze - Khan Hossein Gholami (Iran)

DIVISION E (56 AND OVER)

58 KG/127.75 LBS.
Gold - Viktor Chirkov (Russia)
Silver - Vladimir Kim (Russia)
Bronze - Davod Salarvand (Iran)

63 KG/138.75 LBS.
Gold - Zamani Khosrow (Iran)
Silver - Victor Afrlkanov (Russia)
Bronze - M. Amir Kanloo (Iran)
Bronze - Shirzad Ahmadi (USA)
Also:
Fifth - Gerald Silva (USA)

69 KG/152 LBS.
Gold - Ismail Kosukoglu (Turkey)
Silver - Ahzoti Lazishvili (Georgia)
Bronze - Haseb Razmandan (Iran)
Bronze - Zaszkai Impre (Hungary)
Also:
Ninth - Jim Lucas (USA)

76 KG/167.5 LBS.
Gold - David McIntyre (Australia)
Silver - Sbigniew Rzedzicki (Germany)
Bronze - Leo Ritter (Germany)
Bronze - Ievgenii Zborovskyi (Ukraine)

85 KG/187.25 LBS.
Gold - Siegtried Jozlowski (Germany)
Silver - Siahposht Ali (Iran)
Bronze - Donald Apodaca (USA)
Bronze - Dmitriy Khlebinkov (Russia)

97 KG/213.75 LBS.
Gold - Ron Cole (USA)
Silver - Ambrus Lubovic (Romania)
Bronze - Erhard Schmelzer (Germany)
Bronze - Artur Sammet (Germany)

130 KG/286 LBS.
Gold - M. Reza Fathi (Iran)
Silver - Petrov Gospodin (Bulgaria)
Bronze - Estate Goglichidze (Georgia)
Bronze - Vladimir Dzitiev (Russia)