Russian wrestler Natalia Vorobieva pinned down her opponent and the gold medal in the final of the women’s 72 kilogram freestyle wrestling Thursday.
Bulgaria’s Stanka Zlateva won the first round 1-0 but was pinned by Vorobieva 46 seconds into the second round and lost the match to the 21-year-old student from Siberia.
For reigning world champion Zlateva, it was her second straight loss in an Olympic final after losing the gold medal match to China’s Wang Jiao in Beijing four years ago.
Vorobieva’s triumph prevented a Japanese sweep of the four women’s wrestling gold medals and puts Russia on top of the wrestling medals table ahead of the seven men’s freestyle events.
The bronze medals went to Kazakhstan’s Gayel Manyurova and Spain’s Maider Unda.
Manyurova beat Wang 3-1 on points, while Unda defeated Belarusian grappler Vasilisa Marzalyuk 3-0 on points.
