Wang Xu, a teenaged high school student from China, completed
amission-impossible when she defeated five-time world champion
Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan en route to winning a women's freestyle
wrestling gold medal at the Olympic Games on Monday.
The mighty Hamaguchi, daughter of former Japanese pro wrestling
star Heigo "Animal" Hamaguchi, was unbeaten over the past two years
and thought to be all but untouchable.
But the 19-year-old Wang achieved the unthinkable by beating
Hamaguchi 6-4 in the semifinal of the women's 72kg category
freestyle wrestling.
During the match, the referee awarded Wang two points in a move
Hamaguchi initiated. Hamaguchi's father was infuriated at the
decision and stood up shouting from the stands.
"I think the score was correct. When you lose, you lose," said
Hamaguchi, who carried Japan's flag at the opening ceremony of the
Games, after taking the bronze in the evening.
"I was able to learn about life. That's more valuable than the
gold medal," she said philosophically.
Inspired by the historic victory, Wang outpointed Russian Gouzei
Maniourova 7-2 in the final, bagging her first major international
title.
"I'm so excited about winning the gold medal," Wang said
afterwards. "I never thought the way to triumph was so smooth."
Wang, a native of Beijing, took up the sport of judo in 1998 and
switched to wrestling one year later.
When asked about her comments on the opinion that wrestling is a
sport only for men, Wang said, "Men and women are equal. Since men
can wrestle against each other, why can't we women?"
Women's wrestling is for the first time included in the Olympic
Games as a medal event.
Wang, a high-school student, has already put her eye on the
Beijing 2008 Olympics.
"I hope to win another gold at home in 2008," she said.
(Xinhua News? Agency? August 24, 2004)