Olympic wrestler gets choked unconscious, comes back to win gold
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Roman Vlasov certainly didn’t look like a wrestler on his way to a second gold medal when he was flat on his back, slowly regaining consciousness. But the Russian shook off the cobwebs and finished his victory in the semifinal to earn a spot in the final where he defended his gold.
Vlasov, 25, won the 74-kilogram gold medal in Greco-Roman in the 2012 London Olympics, and snagged the title again in Rio, although the road to victory didn’t come without controversy.
In earlier competition, Vlasov appeared to blow a 6-3 lead to Kim Hyeon-Woo, but judges ruled the South Korean’s move was worth two points rather than four. A challenge of the ruling didn’t go Hyeon-Woo’s way and Vlasov advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-5 victory.
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He had another lead against Croatia’s Bozo Starcevic in the semifinal, jumping out to a 6-0 advantage, when Starcevic put him in a chokehold. After being choked unconscious, Vlasov sunk to the mat. Ordinarily, pinning a wrestler with both shoulders flat to the mat for two seconds counts as an automatic victory, so the judges could have ruled Starcevic the winner despite Vlasov’s 6-0 lead.
Officials pulled Starcevic from the Russian when they realized Vlasov was unconscious, but the scoring for the pin came into question. Submission holds are illegal in Greco-Roman wrestling, so there was debate about whether it was a legal head pinch, or an illegal choke across Vlasov’s throat.
The judges didn’t award the win by fall to Starcevic, but seemingly validated the move as legal by awarding two points to the Croatian. Former U.S. Olympian Ben Askren tweeted about the match, calling it “total chaos,” and saying that the two points were likely awarded as a consolation by judges seeking to keep the peace.
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When Vlasov regained consciousness, he finished a 6-3 victory and advanced to the final where he decisively defeated Denmark’s Mark Overgaard Madsen for the gold medal.
The win for Vlasov in the semifinals also had implications for an American wrestler, Andy Bisek, who lost earlier to Starcevic. If the Croatian had earned a victory and advanced to the final, Bisek would have had a chance to compete for a bronze medal in the repechage round.
