YoungestToOldest

The Youngest/Oldest GR Gold Medalists in Olympic History

Monday, May 18, 2020 - 19:25 By Ikuo Higuchi

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(This is the last of a three-part series that appeared on the Japan Wrestling Federation website. It was translated for UWW by Ken Marantz.)

A Style Dominated by Europeans
Compared with the United States and Asia, where most wrestlers start the sport in freestyle, many in Europe start out in the sport as youth in Greco-Roman style. This can account for the fact that out of 196 gold medals awarded at the Olympics so far, 168 have gone to Europeans (170 if wrestlers from current Asian countries who competed for the Soviet Union are included). 

Even so, it took more than a century of Olympics before a teenager would bring home a gold. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) broke through the barrier at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won the 60kg gold at 19 years 7 months 15 days. A world junior champion in 2006, Albiev added to his stature when he triumphed at both the European and World Championships the year after Beijing.

Albiev remains the lone teenager to win a Greco gold heading into the Tokyo Olympics, although such a feat might have more to do with timing than skill, given that the Olympics come only once every four years. A wrestler who is 16 or 17 in an Olympic year will likely never get a legitimate shot at a gold as a teenager (not that it really matters in the end if one wins a gold at 19 or 20; it is just being mentioned here for historical purposes). 

Take the case of legendary Hamza YERLIKAYA (TUR), who was just 17 years 3 months 16 days when he won the 82kg title at the 1993 World Championships. But his triumph at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics came 1 month 18 days after he had celebrated his 20th birthday. Yerlikaya would add another Olympic title in 2000 and world title in 2005 before going on to become a member of Turkey's Parliament.

The 1987 World Championships in Clermand-Ferrand produced a teenaged Greco champ in Pedro Favier ROQUE (CUB), who won the 52kg gold at 18 years 8 months 26 days. He would have still been 19 at the Seoul Olympics the following year, but it was not to be. Cuba, following the lead of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, did not participate in the Games in the south of the peninsula.

Comparatively, freestyle has eight Olympic champions who were in their teens or 20, while Greco has just half that number with four. Perhaps this shows how Greco relies more on experience to master. 

It looking at the oldest gold medalists, the world and Japanese media heralded the crowning of a 40-year-old champion at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Anatoli ROSCHTSCHIN (URS) was 40 years 6 months 0 days when he won the over-100kg crown. But there had been an older champion before that, back in the days before mass media. At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, Adolf LINDFORS (FIN) was 41 years 6 months 12 days when he triumphed in the over-84kg class. And he certainly earned his medal--he won all five of his matches by fall, with his second-round victory take 23 minutes 43 seconds and his win in the final lasting a whopping 47 minutes 38 seconds. (In that era, the time limit for a match was reportedly 50 minutes.)

As in freestyle, the majority of champions on the oldest-ever list are in the upper weight classes. Of the top 15, the lone lightweight champions (68kg or lower) came in the pre-World War II era. Since the end of the war, there have been only six gold medalists aged 30 or over in the lightweight divisions, most recently Davor STEFANEK (SRB), who was 30 years 11 months 4 days when he won the 66kg gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

By the way, Japan has had four Greco champions in Olympic history. The youngest was Masamitsu ICHIGUCHI (JPN), who was 24 years 9 months 7 years when he took the 57kg gold at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The oldest, 1984 Los Angeles Olympic 52kg champion Atsuji MIYAHARA (JPN), was 25 years 7 months 13 days on the day of his triumph.

Why am I bringing this up? If the upcoming Tokyo Olympics had been held as scheduled this summer, current world 60kg champion Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) could have broken Ichiguchi's record as youngest-ever by winning the gold on Aug. 3, when he will be 24 years 7 months 16 days. But with the Games postponed for year, Fumita instead has a chance to become the oldest-ever. The final is tentatively slated for Aug. 2, 2021, when Fumita will be 25 years 7 months 15 days--just two days older than Miyahara.

TOP 15 YOUNGEST OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS (GRECO-ROMAN)
Name                                                        Age                               Olympics                       Wt.    Date of birth
1. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS)                    19 years 7 months 15 days         2008 Beijing       60kg     1988/12/28

2. Hamza YERLIKAYA (TUR)             20 years 1 month 18 days         1996 Atlanta         82kg     1976/06/03

3. Suren NALBANDYAN (URS)           20 years 1 month 21 days         1976 Montreal       68kg     1956/06/03

4. Shazam SAFIN (URS)                       20 years 3 months 20 days      1952 Helsinki         67kg     1932/04/07

5. Alexandre KARELINE (URS)          21 years 0 months 2 days           1988 Seoul           130kg     1967/09/19

6. Varteres SAMURGASHEV (RUS)   21 years 0 months 13 days         2000 Sydney          63kg     1979/09/13

7. Boris GUREVICH (URS)                    21 years 4 months 4 days       1952 Helsinki          52kg     1931/03/23

8. Ji-Hyun JUNG (KOR)                        21 years 5 months 0 days       2004 Athens            60kg     1983/03/26

9. Alexander KOLTSCHINSKI (URS) 21 years 5 months 4 days           1976 Montreal    +100kg   1955/02/20

10. Khassan BAROEV (RUS)                 21 years 8 months 24 days      2004 Athens          120kg     1982/12/01

11. Roman VLASOV (RUS)                    21 years 9 months 30 days      2012 London           74kg     1990/10/06

12. Jouko SALOMAEKI (FIN)              21 years 11 months 7 days         1984 Los Angeles   74kg     1962/08/26

13. Schamil CHISAMUTDINOW (URS)  21 years 11 months 21 days   1972 Munich           68kg     1950/09/20

14. Henri DEGLANE (FRA)                    22 years 0 months 18 days      1924 Paris              +82kg     1902/06/22

15. Vincenzo MAENZA (ITA)                 22 years 2 months 30 days      1984 Los Angeles      48kg     1962/05/02

TOP 15 OLDEST OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS (GRECO-ROMAN)
Name                                                        Age                                       Olympics                        Wt.    Date of birth
1. Adolf LINDFORS (FIN)                   41 years 6 months 12 days          1920 Antwerp           +82kg     1879/02/08

2. Anatoli ROSCHTSCHIN (URS)      40 years 6 months 0 days            1972 Munich          +100kg     1932/03/10

3. Johannes KOTKAS (URS)               37 years  5 months 24 days          1952 Helsinki           +87kg     1915/02/03

4. Kaaro ANTTILA (FIN)                   36 years  10 months 10 days         1924 Paris                   62kg     1887/08/30

5. Carl WESTERGREN (SWE)           36 years  9 months 25 days          1932 Los Angeles      +87kg     1895/10/13

6. Claes JOHANSON (SWE)               35 years  9 months 16 days          1920 Antwerp           82.5kg     1884/11/04

7. Erik MALMBERG (SWE)                35 years  6 months 23 days          1932 Los Angeles        66kg     1897/01/15

8. Eemeli VAERE (FIN)                      34 years  10 months 23 days         1920 Antwerp          67.5kg     1885/09/28

9. Axel GROENBERG (SWE)             34 years  2 months 18 days           1952 Helsinki              79kg     1918/05/09

10. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB)     33 years  11 months 26 days          2016 Rio de Janeiro  130kg    1982/08/20

11. Ahmet KIRECCI (TUR)                33 years 9 months 10 days            1948 London              +87kg     1914/10/27

12. Ivar JOHANSSON (SWE)             33 years  6 months 9 days            1936 Berlin                    79kg     1903/01/31

13. Rudolf SVENSSON (SWE)            33 years  4 months 11 days           1932 Los Angeles          87kg     1899/03/27

14. Vaeinoe KOKKINEN (FIN)          32 years  8 months 13 days           1932 Los Angeles          79kg     1899/11/25

15. Valentin NIKOLAEV (URS)          32 years  8 months 0 days            1956 Melbourne            87kg     1924/04/06

Obituary

Japanese legend and Olympic champ Obara passes away aged 44

Saturday, July 19, 2025 - 11:00 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (July 19) — Legendary Japanese wrestler Hitomi OBARA, the 2012 London Olympic gold medalist at women's 48kg and an eight-time world champion, passed away on Friday, the Japanese media reported on Saturday. She was 44.

The Japan Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where Obara was a women's coach, said it was withholding the cause of death "out of consideration for the privacy and emotions of the bereaved family," according to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Obara, the mother of two elementary school-aged children, was a director in the Japan Wrestling Federation, and had just been appointed in June as a coach of the women's national team for the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics along with fellow former Olympic champion Kaori ICHO.

Obara, who won six of her world titles at 51kg under her maiden name of SAKAMOTO, became a model case for the ups and downs of high-level sports and the ability to overcome grave disappointment. Her victory at the London Olympics, at age 31, came after being denied spots on Japan's team at both of the two previous Olympics by fellow legend Saori YOSHIDA.

Born in 1981 in the wrestling hotbed of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in northern Japan, Obara went on to attend Chukyo University (now Shigakkan), which she helped turn into a national powerhouse along with Yoshida and fellow Hachinohe native Icho.

"It's hard, it's hard, I can't keep from crying," former Shigakkan and national team coach Kazuhito SAKAE was quoted as telling the Japanese media. "She was a wrestling prodigy. At the least, she was a hard worker with a strong sense of responsibility. She was wrestling's heaven-sent child. I still can't believe it." 

Obara won back-to-back world 51kg titles in 1999 and 2000. A serious knee injury would keep her from returning to the world championships until 2005, from which she won four in a row.

In between, she attempted to make the Japanese's squad to the 2004 Athens Olympics, but that dream ended with a loss by fall to Yoshida in the 55kg final at the All-Japan Championships in December 2002. She would only compete once in 2003 before returning in earnest in 2004 and beginning her streak of world titles the following year.

But more disappointment came her way in the qualifying process for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Again it was Yoshida who squashed her dreams, beating her 2-0 (2-0, 4-0) in the 2006 All-Japan final. After the match, Obara sat for hours sobbing in a corner of the warm-up room, a towel draped over her head.

Obara managed to rebound from the defeat to win a playoff for the 51kg spot at the 2007 World Championships, where she won gold No. 5. After adding No. 6 a year later with a run to the gold that included a victory over future Olympic champ Helen MAROULIS (USA), she decided to retire.

But despite all of her success, the lack of a Olympic gold -- or even an appearance, for that matter -- still left a sting that would not abate. That, and the decision of her younger sister Makiko to retire, led her to attempt the difficult path of cutting down to 48kg to make it to London.

Makiko was a world bronze medalist at 48kg in 2005 and 2008, but decided to end her career after placing eighth in 2009. Hitomi had never wanted to displace her sister from the national team, but now the door to 48kg was open.

Her biggest battle may have been with the scale. On the mat, she was as unbeatable as ever, storming to world golds in 2010 and 2011 -- now as Obara after getting married in 2010.

There was one slip-up along the way -- a semifinal loss to So Sim HYANG (PRK) at the 2010 Asian Games that ended her 70-match winning streak in international matches. But she regained her confidence with a decisive win at the All-Japan, and it was with a full head of steam that she headed to the London Olympics, which she had announced would be her swan song.

In London, Obara knocked off defending Olympic champion Carol HUYNH (CAN) in the semifinals before coming from behind in the final to defeat Mariya STADNIK (AZE) 2-1 (0-4, 1-0, 2-0) -- a replay of the gold-medal match at the 2011 worlds.

"If you keep doing what you love and never give up, you can achieve your dream," Obara told students at the junior high school she attended during a visit in January last year.

Upon retiring, Obara joined the staff at the Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where she was also an officer. Among the members she coached were Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO, Himeka TOKUHARA and Masako FURUICHI, who all made Japan's team to this year's World Championships.

In 2022, Obara was inducted into UWW's Hall of Fame along with Yoshida and Icho.