Arionas Kolitsopoulos made history on Wednesday, becoming the first wrestler from Greece to win a gold medal in the U17 World Wrestling Championship in any style.
According to United World Wrestling, while six wrestlers from Greece had secured seven world titles in different age groups and styles, none had achieved it at the U17 level.
Kolitsopoulos victory in Istanbul came after defeating U17 Asian champion Ahmadreza Mohamadian in the 71kg final, winning the gold medal on the third day of the U17 World Championships.
Kolitsopoulos’ also secured wins over Cristian Risca in the opening round, Seongmin Jang in the pre-quarterfinals, Dias Seitkaliyev in the quarterfinals, and U17 European champion Abdurakhman Abdulkadyrov in the semi-finals.
The Greek wrestler tied his historic win to his father and coach, Alexios, a former Greco-Roman wrestler who competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics.Â
“I made history because my father was a talent. So I am talented but why not be better than him,” Kolitsopoulos said after his win.
“I have dreamed it like thousand times… I am feeling great and I hope kids out there in Greece start training more to become like me or better.”
Source: United World Wrestling.
