Mijain Lopez: In a league of his own after fifth consecutive gold medal

Mijain Lopez made Olympic history by winning the men’s 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling category for a record-breaking fifth consecutive time.

The Cuban’s victory at the event makes him the first athlete to win the same event five times in a row, per BBC Sport.

Lopez previously shared the record with four consecutive golds in the 130kg event, with Carl Lewis (long jump), Michael Phelps (200m medley), Katie Ledecky (800m freestyle), Al Oerter (discus), Paul Elvstrom (sailing), and Kaori Icho (wrestling), also all winning four golds. Now, Lopez stands alone at the top of the mountain.

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For Lopez, his age proved to be no issue, with the heavyweight turning 42 in just two weeks time.

There are few superlatives worthy of Lopez’s dominance, with The Guardian describing him as, "arguably the greatest Olympian of all time".

Lopez’s opponent in his gold medal match was Yasmani Acosta Fernandez, who, according to Alexandra Topping for The Guardian, spent years of his career in Lopez’s shadow as a Cuban wrestler unable to earn a spot on the team.

With Mijain Lopez dominating Cuban wrestling for so long, Fernandez was left with no choice but to leave if he wanted a chance to compete for gold. He moved to Chile in 2015 and never looked back. Now, he’s a silver medallist, having lost to the man he spent so much of his career training with.

Fernandez told reporters after the fight, "I wanted to win gold, but at the same time, not so much because it's Mijain, a legend in wrestling worldwide," per the Olympic website. The silver medallist continued, "He's a rival, but also a friend. We have known each other for a long time now. We did the trials together for this year's Olympic Games. He has been giving me advice in every phase, so he's everything, a rival, a friend, he's a brother."

For Lopez, it appears his Olympic career is over. Despite no official announcement, he symbolically removed his wrestling boots and placed them in the center of the ring after his bout ended.

Lopez told reporters after the fight, "I felt a little sad. It is as if you have left a part of your life there. From a very early age, I was doing this sport. A sport that has made me known worldwide. I left a dream on the mat, but a dream that will inspire all young people," per the Olympics website.

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"The legacy that I want to leave to all the young people who follow me is to always fight for what they want to achieve," Lopez said after winning gold, "There are no goals, there is no age, there are no purposes in life that cannot be achieved."

The Olympics website has reported the Paris Games may well have been Lopez’s first time back on a wrestling mat since winning gold in Tokyo, with the heavyweight not competing in any tournament since.

Lopez’s impact on Olympic wrestling cannot be understated, with the Cuban beginning his career two decades ago in Athens, where he finished fifth. His first gold came four years later in Beijing, and since then the title hasn’t left his hands.

Kurt Angle, who won an Olympic gold in 1996 despite battling a broken neck, posted "usually don’t discuss athletes outside the USA but this guy did something nobody in history ever did. He’s won 5 gold medals in 5 different Olympics. Mijain Lopez!!! 41 years of age and STILL the best wrestler in the world," on X (formerly Twitter).

Having won the 2020 gold medal without conceding a point, Lopez’s standards slipped ever so slightly in 2024, with the Cuban giving up two points through four matches in Paris, per AFP. He did win his gold medal bout 6-0.

Alexandra Topping summed up Lopez’s career wonderfully for The Guardian, finishing her piece on his triumph, "He may have entered the ring as a wrestler, but he left it an Immortal," which perfectly sums up his greatness.

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