Rezaei had overcome a big height disadvantage to beat Cuba's Yunior Estrada Falcon in the semi-final and he further delighted the vast number of Iranians inside the ExCeL by winning gold with a 2-0, 1-0 win.
Rezaei, 26, could only finish 16th in Beijing four years ago, but he took his first Olympic final in his stride this evening, lifting his opponent off the mat to win the first period before successfully defending a par terre in a tense second.
Iran had not won any golds in the Greco-Roman discipline before London 2012, but now they have three after Rezaei followed up the success of his fellow countrymen Hamid Soryan and Omid Noroozi.
Earlier in the 96kg category, two bronze medals went to Armenia's Artur Aleksanyan and Swede Jimmy Lidberg after they defeated Falcon and Tsimafei Dzeinichenka in the finals of the repechage.
Related content
- Athletes
- Sports
- Countries
