Cuban wrestler Mijain López Núñez retires with record fifth straight gold

Cuban athlete Mijain López Núñez retired after the 130-kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling final — going out as a wrestling legend and his competitor’s hero and winning his fifth gold.

Cuban wrestler Mijain López Núñez retired after the 130-kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling final at the Paris Olympics — going out as a wrestling legend and his competitor’s hero.

López Núñez, 41, defeated Chilean Yasmani Acosta Fernández 6-0. The win earned López Núñez his fifth consecutive gold medal, as he made history as the first Olympic athlete to win gold in any event at five consecutive games and the first wrestler to win five gold medals.

Acosta Fernández said being the last person to fight López Núñez was an honor, calling him “a legend in the sport.”

Gold medallist Mijain Lopez Nunez of Team Cuba celebrates with the Cuban flag and his fifth Olympic Gold Medal on the podium after the Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 130kg medal ceremony following the Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman Medal Matches on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Champs-de-Mars Arena on Aug. 6, 2024 in Paris.Sarah Stier / Getty ImagesAfter the fight, López Núñez unlaced his shoes and placed them in the center of the mat, symbolically indicating his retirement from wrestling. 

López Núñez said it was a tough moment for him. “I turned in what we call ‘our weaponry,’” he told NBC News. “When one turns in their wrestling shoes, they are leaving behind a journey where from a young age they have carried out that work.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuban-wrestler-mijain-lopez-retires-fifth-gold-rcna165466

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