Olympics wrestling: Sharif Sharifov wins men's freestyle 84kg gold

Sharif Sharifov becomes the fifth reigning world champion to win the freestyle 84kg event at the Olympics.

Azerbaijan's Sharifov won in two periods against Puerto Rico's Jaime Yusept Espinal in Saturday's final.

The 23-year-old comprehensively beat Espinal 6-1 2-0 to claim his nation's second wrestling gold following Toghrul Agarov's success earlier on Saturday.

Analysis

Non Evans Former Commonwealth Games wrestler

"Sharifov completely dominated that final. It was perhaps the most one-sided final we've seen so far. He made it look easy."

Georgia's Dato Marsagishvili and Ehsan Naser Lashgari of Iran won their respective bronze-medal deciders.

Reigning European champion Marsagishvili, one of the pre-tournament gold medal favourites, outclassed Belarus's Soslan Gattsiev.

The Georgian, 21, put the disappointment of failing to reach the final behind him to beat Gattsiev 3-0 3-1.

Three-time Asian champion Lashgari, backed by noisy Iranian support, also needed only two periods to claim bronze.

Lashgari, 26, used his wealth of experience to win 3-2 3-0 against Bulgaria's world junior silver medallist Ibrahim Bolukbasi.

Final Results

Final results by Athlete
Rank Athlete Country Medal moment Result
1 Sharifov AZE 3
2 Espinal PUR 1
3 Marsagishvili GEO 3
3 Lashgari IRI 3
View full results for Men's Freestyle 84kg