The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, Luis Alberto Orta, and the double world medalist, Oscar Pino, were crowned this Sunday the Grand Prix “Henri Deglane” wrestling that was held in the French city of Nice.
Orta, in the 67-kilogram division, defeated host Tigran Galustyan in the final, who was unable to finish the duel due to injury. However, the man from Havana had a 7-2 lead after scoring five points in the second period to break the two-point tie with which the first period ended.
On his way to the final, Orta defeated Swiss Michael Portman and Frenchman Stefan Clement on points, while Lithuanian Adomas Grigaliunas conceded due to technical superiority. Meanwhile, Galustyan had left last year’s Olympic runner-up, Ukrainian Parvis Nasibov, on the road.
The other Cuban representative in Nice, the prodigious Oscar Pino (130 kilograms), also climbed to the top of the podium without allowing a single point in his three fights. The Greek Nikolaos Ntounias, the Pole Dominik Tomasz and the German Franz Richter were the victims of the Antillean, who continues to show his quality.
With these results, Cuba anchored in the third position of the medal table by countries in the Greco-Roman style, only surpassed by Ukraine (4 golds-6 silvers-5 bronzes) and Georgia (2-2-1). The locals culminated in the fourth seat with a crown, a subtitle and three bronzes.
Regarding the ranking by points, the Antillean delegation finished in eighth place, since it only competed with two exponents. Orta and Pino achieved a whopping 50 points, behind Ukraine (295), France (185), Georgia (148), Lithuania (107), Switzerland (97), Germany (90) and Poland (87).
The United States swept the freestyle with seven gold medals, allowing them to dominate the overall medal count by adding all three styles.
The fight seeks to sustain itself among the main sports of the Cuban athletic movement, which this year will need the maximum contribution from the mats in the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan American Games.
