Gardner Wins Gold; Paulson and Lindland Silver; United States Take Third as a Team! Plus Final Team
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Heather Van Peursem (USA Wrestling)
12/09/2001
Gardner wins Gold; Paulson and Lindland Win Silver and the United States Makes History by Winning the Bronze Medal as a Team 2000 Olympic champion Rulon Gardner (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) is now a World and Olympic champion at 130 kg. He decisioned Mihaly Deak-Bardos of Hungary 2-0 in overtime in the gold medal match at the 2001 World Championships in Patras, Greece, Dec. 9. Brandon Paulson (Golden Valley, Minn./Minnesota Storm) and Matt Lindland (Oregon City, Ore./Sunkist Kids) both now have an Olympic and World silver medal on their resume. Paulson's Olympic medal came in 1996 while Lindland's came in 2000. "I am not as satisfied as I would be if I won the gold medal," said Lindland. "I touched it but the last minute it slipped out of my hands. I dedicate the silver medal to my two children." The United States made history as a team by winning its first ever team medal by winning the bronze medal. Cuba won the team title followed by Russia. By having three medalists, the United States has also tied the most medals ever one in either the World or Olympic Championships. 2001 Greco-Roman World Championships Patras, Greece, Dimitrios Tofalos Arena, Dec. 9 Final Individual Placings 54 kg - Gold - Hassan Rangraz (Iran) dec. Brandon Paulson (USA), 8-4; Bronze - Lazaro Rivas (Cuba) dec. Uran Kalilov (Kyrgyzstan), 3-1 58 kg - Gold - Dilshod Aripov (Uzbekistan) dec. Karen Mnatsakanyan (Armenia), 6-3; Bronze - Roberto Monzon (Cuba) dec. Armen Nazarian (Bulgaria), 3-1, ot, 6:08 63 kg - Gold - Vagninak Galustyan (Armenia) dec. Kim In Sub (Korea), 8-3; Bronze - Michael Beilin (Israel) dec. Juan Maren (Cuba), 3-0, ot, 6:07 69 kg - Gold - Filiberto Azcuy (Cuba) dec. Alexej Gloushkov (Russia), 4-0; Bronze - Rustam Adzhy (Ukraine) pin Jimmy Samuelson (Sweden), 1:28 76 kg - Gold - Ara Abrahamjian (Sweden) pin Alexei Michine (Russia), 5:04; Bronze - Kim Jin Soo (Korea) dec. Sergiy Solodkyy (Ukraine), 3-0 85 kg - Gold - Mukhran Vakhrangadze (Georgia) dec. Matt Lindland (USA), 2-1, ot, 9:00; Bronze - Oleksandr Daragan (Ukraine) dec. Alexandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-2, ot, 6:33 97 kg - Gold - Alexandre Bezroutchkine (Russia) dec. Ernesto Pena (Cuba), 7-0; Bronze - Mehmet Ozal (Turkey) dec. Petru Sudurfeak (Romania), 7-5 130 kg - Gold - Rulon Gardner (USA) dec. Mihaly Deak-Bardos (Hungary), 2-0, ot, 9:00; Bronze - Xenofon Loutsioubas (Greece) dec. Sergej Moreyko (Bulgaria), 8-0 Team Standings 1. Cuba; 2. Russia; 3. United States 1. CUBA 54 2. RUSSIA 38 3. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 33 4. SWEDEN 26 5. IRAN 24 6. KOREA 24 7. HUNGARY 24 8. UKRAINE 23 9. ARMENIA 19 10. UZBEKISTAN 18 11. GEORGIA 17 12. BULGARIA 17 13. BELARUS 12 14. TURKEY 11 15. GREECE 9 16. ROMANIA 9 17. KAZAKHSTAN 9 18. ISRAEL 8 19. CZECH REPUBLIC 8 20. KYRGYZSTAN 7 21. CHINA 7 22. SPAIN 6 22. FRANCE 6 22. INDIA 6 25. JAPAN 6 25. POLAND 6 27. FINLAND 5 28. GERMANY 4 29. SWITZERLAND 2 29. SLOVAKIA 2