Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez became the first athlete to win five consecutive individual Olympic gold medals in the same event with victory in the 130kg Greco-Roman category.
Lopez, who turns 42 in two weeks, defeated Chile’s Yasmani Acosta to take the record outright.
He previously held the title jointly with four-time successive winners Carl Lewis (athletics/long jump), Michael Phelps (swimming/200m medley), Katie Ledecky (swimming/800m freestyle), Al Oerter (athletics/discus), Paul Elvstrom (sailing) and Kaori Icho (wrestling).
Having come out of retirement after a three-year absence from the mat, Lopez beat world champion Amin Mirzazadeh in the quarter-finals before beating the Cuban-born Acosta.
He has lost just one of his 23 contests at the Olympics, in the quarter-finals of the 2004 Athens Games.
The United States’ Amit Elor won gold in the women’s freestyle 68kg event, beating Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan. (BBC)
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