In the article last week Friday (August 9) titled “Paris 2024 Olympics: Fastest 100m ever in controversy”, reference was made to the existence of two World Athletic rules — Rule 260.10 and Rule 260.14. Initial fact-checking provided references to the aforementioned rules, but deeper investigations revealed that these were merely provocative posts that sought to misdirect and create mischief.

It is therefore prudent that a formal retraction be provided and a categoric statement be made that these rules do not exist. Additionally, apologies must be extended to anyone who may have been misled by the information provided in citing said rules.

That said, while the chapter has been closed on the Paris 2024 Olympics, many storylines continue to linger. Quite possibly the most understated and unheralded storyline has been that of the exploits of Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler Mijaín López Núñez who, at 41 years of age, became the only athlete to earn the gold medal in the same event at five Olympics in a row.

Born on August 20, 1982, in Cuba, he began wrestling when he was 10 years old and had his first taste of major competition at the 2002 World Wrestling Championships in Moscow, Russia, at 20 years old, in the 120 kilograms (kg) — approximately 265lbs — Greco-Roman competition. López finished 13th from a field of 25 athletes and the following year, at the World Wrestling Championships in Créteil, France, he slipped to 16th place from a field of 33 athletes but went on to achieve remarkable success in the years that followed.

His first taste of international success came at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where he took the world title and dropped only a single point in five rounds of competition. The single point was dropped in the final against Mihály Deák-Bárdos of Hungary. López also walked away with World Wrestling Championships gold medals in 2007 (Baku, Azerbaijan), 2009 (Herning, Denmark), 2010 (Moscow, Russia), and 2014 (Tashkent, Uzbekistan), and finished with silver medals in 2006 (Guangzhou, China), 2011 (Istanbul, Turkey), and 2015 (Paradise, Nevada). Additionally, he was a 10-time winner at the Pan American Championships, and he topped the podium at the Pan American Games in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.

Wrestling is possibly the oldest sport in the history of humankind, with evidence of its existence seen in sculptures and drawings that date around 15,000 years ago. Therefore, wrestling has been a mainstay in the Olympic games from the ancient Greeks to the present day, dating back to when it was first contested in 708 BC. Modern wrestling consists of two separate disciplines: Greco-Roman wrestling (a wrestling style based on the ancient format), and freestyle wrestling, a more modern format. Greco-Roman wrestling has been a blue-ribbon Olympic event ever since the first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896, and it became a permanent fixture on the Olympic program in 1908.

López placed fifth in his Olympic debut at the 2004 instalment in Athens, Greece, and captured his first gold medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China. He successfully defended his title at the 2012 games in London, England, thereby joining Aleksandr Karelin (Russia) and Aleksandr Kolchinsky (Soviet Ukraine) as the only three wrestlers to win multiple Olympic gold medals in the 120 kg class. He moved up to the 130 kg — approximately 287lbs — weight class in 2014 and competed at the 2016 Olympic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he laid claim to a third-consecutive gold medal.

The fourth-straight Olympic gold medal came in Tokyo, Japan, at the 2020 Games, actually held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and after another dominating performance, he stood alone as the first male wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals — Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho, in 2016, became the first woman in any sport to win individual gold in the same discipline at four-consecutive Olympics.

The 6-foot-5-inch wrestling maestro retired from the sport following his Tokyo gold medal performance but, maybe to match his five World Wrestling Championship, and five Pan American Games gold medals, he made a return at Paris 2024 to seek his fifth at the Olympics. Fittingly, he entered Paris as the overwhelming JustBet favourite to take the title, with odds of 1.05, and the only other competitors with single-digit odds in the 16-man field were Amin Mirzazadeh (1.50) from Iran, and Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (8.60), who was born in Cuba but represent for Chile at international events.

Perhaps poetically, the final on August 6 pitted López (41) against Acosta (36), who had been training partners for nine years, and the elder statesman emerged victorious, without dropping a point (6-0). A noteworthy feat, considering the Cuban had reportedly not stepped onto a mat to compete in any tournament since winning gold at Tokyo in 2021. Following the match, López removed his shoes and placed them in the center of the mat, perhaps indicating his retirement and a symbolic gesture of passing the proverbial torch.

After 29 years of elite Greco-Roman wrestling and 17 years without losing an Olympic bout, the curtain has evidently been closed on an illustrious career. He may not be a household name outside Cuba and outside the world of the wrestling discipline, but his achievements belong in the ‘legendary conversation’ after nearly two decades at the top of the sport.

Very few athletes can boast a resume as impressive as this Cuban native who is considered one of the sport’s greatest athletes. The island nation’s Olympic glory days have faded in the rearview, but this legendary sporting giant has done everything to keep them in the conversation. In the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, Cuba was fifth in the medal table with 14 gold, six silver and 11 bronze medals (Jamaica was 38th with 3 silver and one bronze medal), behind only Russia (Unified Team), the United States, Germany and China. This year, the 61-strong delegation returned to Cuba with two gold, one silver and six bronze medals. Of course, wrestling reigned supreme, reeling in five of the nine medals.

Mijaín López Núñez is not only one of the great figures of Cuban sports, but also an Olympic megastar. He came, he saw, and he conquered, and he is (apparently) bowing out at the top of his game, but who knows, we may again see him at Los Angeles 2028,going for his sixth – Legendary!

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