site.btaBulgaria's Novikov Is Men's 87 kg Greco-Roman Wrestling Finalist at Paris Olympics

Semen Novikov advanced to the final in the men's 87 kg Greco-Roman wrestling event at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday. The 26-year-old Ukrainian, who represents Bulgaria and is No. 3 seed in his event, won by three technical points to one against Hungary’s David Losonczi, acting world champion and No. 2 seed in the event.

Losonczi was awarded the first point in the match as Novikov was more passive in the first period. In the second period, Losonczi was more passive and Novikov equalised. Some 17 seconds before the end of the match, Bulgaria’s representative pushed his opponent out of the ring and took the lead which was enough to secure him the victory.

Thus, Novikov secured at least a silver medal in the competition, before meeting Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) in Thursday’s final. Mohmadipiani made a comeback from 0-3 to 3-3 points, winning against the reigning champion from Tokyo 2020 Zhan Beleniuk of Ukraine according to the rule of the last technical point(s) scored.

Novikov’s medal will be Bulgaria’s first in the men’s Olympic wrestling events since the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing. Novikov also became Bulgaria’s first male wrestling finalist at Olympics after Armen Nazaryan, who won the gold in the men’s 58 kg Greco-Roman event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Earlier on Wednesday, Novikov, won by 8-3 against Georgia's Lasha Gobadze, world champion at 82 kg from Nur-Sultan 2019 and bronze medallist at 87 kg from the 2021 World Championships in Oslo and the 2023 European Championships in Zagreb.

Gobadze took a 3-0 lead after a successful lift in the middle of the first part of the match following a par terre imposed on Novikov for passivity. The Bulgarian counterattacked and gained a point. A little over a minute after the break, Novikov got another point after his opponent was placed in a par terre position. Using the situation to his advantage, the Bulgarian carried out a successful attack to reverse the score to 4-3 in his favour. Soon after that, he pushed Gobadze out of bounds, bringing the score to 5-3. Novikov made his victory even more compelling by earning another three points (8-3) after a hold and an unsuccessful complaint by his opponent.

Before that, Novikov scored the first victory for Bulgaria in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Paris Olympics by winning his match in the round of 16. In his Olympic debut, the Bulgarian prevailed 5-1 over Denmark's Turpal Bisultanov, European champion from Budapest 2022 and world vice champion from Belgrade 2022, to qualify for the quarter-finals in the men's 87 kg weight class.

Novikov became European champion in Rome in 2020, when he represented his home country Ukraine. After acquiring Bulgarian citizenship in 2023, he earned bronze medals at the World Championships in Belgrade and the European Championships in Zagreb.

In the eighth-final bout, Bisultanov took a one-point lead in the first part after the referee found his opponent passive. Novikov equalized shortly after the break, when the Danish was placed in a par terre position, also for passivity. The Bulgarian availed himself of the situation by taking a good grip and flipping his opponent twice in close succession, which enabled him to win the match.

Up until Novikov's success, the Bulgarians had incurred three defeats in three bouts in men's Greco-Roman wrestling. Kiril Milov was defeated in the first round of the competition in the heaviest weight class (130 kg), and then dropped out at the start of the repechages for the bronze medal. Aik Mnatsakanian dropped out of the 77 kg eighth-finals after losing to Sanan Suleymanov of Azerbaijan.