Wrestling, Greco-Roman style

"Mrs Simpson, this is the most blatant case of false advertising since my suit against the movie The Neverending Story"

Greco-Roman Wrestling is not Greek.  Or Roman.  It was actually invented by the French, who presumably thought that French Wrestling sounded too much like a Blackadder punchline to be a credible sport.  It differs from its freestyle counterpart in that all the holds must be above the waist.  You win points by chucking your opponent out of the ring, pinning their shoulders to the ground, or by escaping this situation:

'Oh - THAT's where the Greek part comes from...'

The wrestling arena is a real bear pit.  Hardcore groups of supporters from places like Georgia and Armenia cluster around massive flags and get some serious vocal support generated.  The Iranians are out in force too, and having won two gold medals in two days here, they are all here to see their man make it a hat-trick in the final of the under 96kg competition.  The towel used to mop the men between rounds is then flicked to dry them, producing billowing clouds of sweat.  It's macho, very loud, and, oh, 'I kissed a girl' is on the PA system.  Perhaps this is to enrage the competitors.  

These are men built like brick walls, and fight like brick walls would fight if there were an Olympic medal at stake.  A Georgian showboats momentarily on his way to a bronze medal, but that's the only moment of anything less than complete respect for the competition.  It's an awesome sight to see men literally fighting for medals - even the winners emerge bruised, patched-up, exhausted.  For those who can't claim the final victory there's nothing but complete exhaustion.  An Armenian bronze medalist, even in victory, is too tired to celebrate.  When a Korean and Hungarian face off in the final of a lighter weight class, the Korean throws his opponent for a victory and suddenly finds the reserves to jump around the arena.  

The last fight of the day is a heavyweight clash between Iran and Russia.  As the giant Iranian triumphs, his coach jumps onto the stage and celebrates by flinging his man over his head onto the mat.  We've come a long way from the beach volleyball.