Armenia to appeal Greco-Roman wrestling results at Olympic Games

ArmInfo. The Wrestling Federation of Armenia has filed an appeal against the judges' decision in the final match of Greco-Roman wrestler in the 98 kg weight category Artur Aleksanyan at the Summer Olympics in Paris. This was reported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MESC) of Armenia.

Deputy Minister of MESC Karen Giloyan, who is observing the Olympic Games in Paris, said that the government of the Republic will also join the appeal process.

"We are waiting for a written response, which will be attached to the complaint of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia and sent to the relevant courts. I assure you that we will try to restore justice," Giloyan said.

In turn, Artur Aleksanyan, Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist, four-time world champion and seven- time European champion, also expressed hope for a fair decision. He stressed that he would continue his sports career despite the disappointment of unfair referee decisions. "I came here for a gold medal, but you all saw what happened during my wrestling. In one of the episodes, the Iranian wrestler went completely outside our wrestling zone with both feet, and I asked the coaches to appeal. In this case, I should have been given one point, but instead, the Iranian wrestler was given two points, and one more point for the appeal. In such tournaments, even minor details can resolve serious issues. I am very disappointed with this injustice, but I will still remain in wrestling," Aleksanyan shared his emotions.

The wrestler also noted that similar situations happened with other Armenian wrestlers. According to Aleksanyan, Slavik Galstyan won a clear victory, but the result of the fight was changed, as a result of which he was left without a medal. The same situation happened with Arsen Harutyunyan.

In the final of the 2024 Olympic Games, Aleksanyan lost to Iranian Mohammadhadi Sarawi with a score of 1:4, winning a silver medal.

At the start of Paris 2024, Aleksanyan won ahead of schedule against South Korean representative Sinjun Kim with a score of 9:0. In the quarterfinals, the Armenian wrestler defeated world vice-champion Rustam Assakalov from Uzbekistan.