2024-08-06 04:59:18
A week ago, after quietly fishing for himself, and coming to the gym simply to keep in shape and help Olympian Mindaugas Venckaitis, the 30-year-old wrestler did not even plan to participate in the Paris Games, but when he was unexpectedly thrown into them, he not only improved his result from the Tokyo Olympics – he made it to the quarterfinals, but suffered a defeat there .
“If I had known a month ago, it would have been much better. I’m just not making excuses – I could have won because it was close. But very happy. It’s very unexpected that I’m here, and I won, – said M. Knystautas. – There is a very wonderful atmosphere here. A French woman was wrestling next to him on the carpet, and the whole hall went wild.”
According to the rules of wrestling, M. Knystautas still has a chance, it is necessary that the rival from China, to whom he was defeated, gets to the finals. Then the Lithuanian would participate in the so-called consolation matches, from which it is possible to advance to bronze.
He will wait for this result already in the Olympic village – the consolation matches are scheduled for Tuesday morning.
And here he started completely in the weight category of Greco-Roman wrestling up to 130 kilograms by defeating the 25-year-old debutant from Morocco Oussama Assad. The fight lasted just 1 minute and 49 seconds, M. Knystautas crushed his opponent 9:0.
“I knew that if I didn’t make any stupid mistakes, I should be able to handle him on the ground. Maybe even in the standing position at the beginning I could have competed more sharply, but there was a fear of making a mistake, so I thought I would wait for the parterre. It’s fun to get a weaker opponent for the first fight”, said M. Knystautas after the round of 16 match.
Soon he laughed – since he didn’t get tired during the fight with the Moroccan, he could calmly wait for the next one: “I got drunk, ate a banana, took off my wrestling shoes to rest my legs, and then I was ready for the fight again for ten minutes.”
After the first victory, he had about 30 minutes until the quarterfinals. Here, 26-year-old Chinese representative Lingzhe Meng stood before him. The latter reached the quarterfinals after defeating the 28-year-old German Jello Krahmer, who owns the bronze of the 2020 European Championship, 4:1.
M. Knystautas had the advantage twice in this duel, but it was not possible to throw this opponent like the Moroccan. Victory was declared for Kin, as he got an active point in the second half – 1:1.
“I got the first activity point and I couldn’t do anything. There are unwritten rules – if the fight is close in the second half, the chance is given to someone else. That’s how he got the point. According to the rules of wrestling – if the result is equal, the one who gets the last point wins”, explained M. Knystautas, soon adding that this not very honorable-sounding rule may change in the future.
In the second half of the fight, M. Knystautas had a second chance on the parterre, but everything ended as in the first – the Chinese managed to defend himself.
“Those hands are unpolished, slow. The second time I attacked, I hooked well, but… He is experienced, good. I had to wrestle in camps and competitions. It didn’t work this time, he said. – I was not surprised by him – I knew he would drive. I tried to push through, give my pace, but at the end I ran out of breath myself.”
With 7 seconds left, the Lithuanian retreated and crouched down, showing that he would not fight anymore: “Well…It’s hard to do something. When there were less than 50 seconds left, he was already out of breath, the opponent was tense and closed.
M. Knystautas got his ticket to the Paris Olympics while the Games were already underway – on July 29, while warming up after training, he heard the words that he had to pack his bags for his second Games. The door was opened for him by the news that Tunisian wrestler Amine Guenichi has been suspended for severe anti-doping violations.
M. Knystautas fell after the first fight at the Tokyo Games in 2021 – against Turkish Riza Kayaalpa, who later won bronze. This athlete is not participating in the Paris Games because he is disqualified for doping.
The favorite of the tournament is Cuban star Mijain Lopez, who is ready to go down in history. The 41-year-old wrestler is aiming for his fifth Olympic gold in a row – he has become a champion since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Wrestler Gabija Dilytė (50 kg) and M.Venckaitis (97) will compete in the Paris Games on Tuesday.
2024-08-06 04:59:18