Paris 2024 Olympics: At 41, Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez eyes record fifth consecutive gold medal in the same event

Chennai

Olympic history is scattered with examples of utter dominance. When Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler Mijain Lopez begins his Olympic campaign in Paris, he will be doing so in pursuit of a new type of Olympic dominance; becoming the first Olympian to win five consecutive gold medals in the same event.

Lopez made his debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He made it to the quarterfinals of the competition, where he lost to Khasan Baroyev of Russia. Four years later, Lopez returned to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and avenged this defeat, overcoming Baroyev in the gold medal final. Between Lopez’s first bout of the 2008 Games and today, he has not lost.

Over the next two games, Lopez established a period of Olympic dominance. He beat Heiki Nabi of Estonia at the 2012 London Olympics and Riza Kayaalp of Turkey in the 2016 Rio Olympics to secure two more gold medals and match (he would eventually break) the record for most consecutive wrestling medals by a man, a record that previously held by Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin, who had three in the 130kg event.

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Coming into the 2020 Tokyo Games, it did appear as if Lopez’ career may have been coming to an end.

In an interview on the Olympic website, he said, “I think it’s almost the end of Mijain Lopez, but I want to do it with the desire and joy I’ve always had.”

Lopez would have bowed out in a fairytale manner, beating Iakob Kajala of Georgia in the final bout to win four gold medals in the same event, an unprecedented feat. He joined an elite club of people who have four Olympic gold medals in the same event including Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps. 

Now, Lopez is back in Paris, and is determined to win five consecutive golds in the same event. At the age of 41, it will not be easy, and he goes into it unseeded, but Lopez feels that he is up to the challenge.

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“The preparation is done. I feel in optimal condition and all wrestlers are motivated both in Cuba and internationally. It has been a very important time for me to keep the motivation to get to my sixth Olympic Games and fight for my fifth medal.” Lopez said in an interview with United World Wrestling Press.

“Something I am doing with great focus is to be able to show the world that everything you have in mind, and want to achieve, can be achieved. I know it’s in my mind, and I believe that the possibility of achieving that result is high,” he added.

Regardless of the outcome of this Olympics, Lopez has already secured his place as one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time. However, Lopez’s quest for a new page in the Olympic record books will be an interesting storyline to keep an eye out in the latter stages of the Paris 2024 Olympics.