Wrestling Titans: The Top 5 Male Olympic Wrestlers of All-Time
Grappling Olympians! The Greatest Male Wrestlers in Olympics History
Which Olympic wrestler is the king of the ring?
Find out in The Sporting Blog's blow-by-blow round-up of the top 5 male Olympic wrestlers ever to grace the mat.
Wrestling star Mijaín López
Wrestling is one of the oldest combat sports, and it’s been a staple at the Olympic Games since ancient times.
Over the years, numerous exceptional wrestlers have showcased their unparalleled skill, strength and determination, taking down their opponents - and keeping them down, too.
These are our picks for the top 5 male Olympic wrestlers of all-time!
1. Mijaín López
Mijaín López is a Greco-Roman wrestler, standing 1.98m tall
He won four Olympic titles in succession
He’s the current Olympic champion in the 130kg category
Mijaín López Núñez tops our list of the greatest male Olympic wrestlers of all-time, earning the most gold medals in the Olympics in his discipline. He hails from Cuba and was born on 20 August 1982 in Pinar Del Rio.
While he isn’t the first male Olympian to earn four golds, he is the only one to retain all of his medals. López has competed in five consecutive Olympics, starting in 2004, when he came fifth in his class.
However, since winning in 2008, he remains unbeaten. He is the fifth Olympian to achieve four golds in the same event.
At the 2008 and 2012 Olympics opening ceremonies, López was the Cuban athlete honoured with bearing his country's flag.
At those two Games, he won gold in the 120kg category. At the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, he won back-to-back gold in the 130kg category - and he didn’t lose a single point!
Mijaín López is also a five-time World Champion and Pan American Games champion. He hopes to make history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by becoming the first wrestler to win five Olympic gold medals.
2. Aleksandr Karelin
Standing at 1.91m tall, Karelin is a retired Russian Greco-Roman wrestler
He won three consecutive Olympic golds and one Olympic silver
He won 25 world-level competitions in his senior career and four in his junior career
A quote from Philip Hersh perfectly sums up Aleksandr Karelin’s impact on the wrestling world:
“[Aleksandr Karelin] didn’t just dominate the world of Greco-Roman wrestling for 13 years, he terrified the world of Greco-Roman wrestling!"
Karelin could easily be considered the best wrestler of all-time, despite earning only three Olympic gold medals, compared to Mijaín López's four.
This wrestling great was born on 19 September 1967 in Novosibirsk, Russia, weighing a whopping 5.5kg at birth.
Karelin's technical brilliance and physical prowess set him apart as a wrestler.
His signature devastating move was the "Karelin Lift," where he would pick up an elite 130kg opponent lying flat on the mat, spin his opponent, and then slam him on the floor, all while the opponent resisted the move.
These kinds of moves are generally uncommon with heavyweight wrestlers, but they earned Karelin five points per throw.
Karelin’s view on training was that you should train like an absolute madman. Despite his giant size, his training turned him into a supple and agile competitor.
Karelin could do backflips and splits, and he had the flexibility and grip strength of an anaconda. Plus, he carried his "biggest opponent" (his fridge, weighing 230kg) up eight flights of stairs to his apartment!
3. Buvaisar Saitiev
He is considered the greatest freestyle wrestler of all-time
In 13 years, he won nine of the 11 Olympic and World tournaments in which he competed
He is a six-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion
Buvaisar Saitiev was born in Khasavyurt on 11 March 1975. This retired freestyle wrestler measured 1.83m tall and weighed 74kg.
Saitiev won gold in his event at the 1996, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, while his younger brother, Adam, won the 2000 Olympic title in the same weight class.
Media reports in 2007 stated that Buvaisar Saitiev struggled with a neck injury. Yet, he still competed and won the title at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. However, that event was his last wrestling competition, as he retired after that.
During his wrestling career, the modest Saitiev lived by the words of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Boris Pasternak. Before every match, Saitiev would repeat Pasternak's poem, "It is not seemly to be famous."
These words defined his life on and off the mat. Today, Saitiev is the acting State Duma Deputy for his hometown's Republic, Dagestan.
4. Aleksandr Medved
He was named by FILA as "one of the greatest wrestlers in history”
He won three Olympic gold medals in 1964, 1968 and 1972
Medved was voted the best Belarusian athlete of the 20th century in 2001
Aleksandr Medved was born on 16 September 1937 in Bila Tserkva. He came from a family of giants, though he was actually one of the smaller members, measuring 1.9m and weighing over 100kg.
In addition to his three Olympic titles, Medved won the World Championship seven times and the European Championship three times.
He was an Olympic flag bearer twice: once for the Soviet Union in 1972 and once for Belarus in 2004. Medved also recited the Judge's Oath at the 1980 Olympics Opening Ceremony.
In 2003, Medved was honoured as one of the first 10 inductees into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Additionally, he's an honoured citizen of Minsk, where an annual wrestling tournament is held in his honour. This tournament has been going on since the 1970s and was awarded International Grand Prix status in 1994.
5. Ivar Johansson
Johansson was a Swedish Olympic wrestler
At the 1932 Olympics, he won gold in freestyle middleweight and Greco-Roman welterweight
He won a third Olympic gold for Greco-Roman middleweight in 1936
Ivar Johansson was born in Norrköping on 31 January 1903 and died in the same city at age 76 in 1979. He competed at the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1936, winning three titles in total.
Johannson won two separate events in two weight classes at the 1932 Olympics.
He first competed in - and won - the freestyle middleweight title. Two days later, he was due to compete in the Greco-Roman welterweight event. So, he lost five kilograms in two days by fasting and sweating himself lighter in the sauna.
He then went on to win all four bouts with relative ease.
Later, in 1932, Johansson was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal for his "significant Swedish sports achievement.”
Despite his victories at the Olympics, Johansson never competed in World Championships. He did, however, win nine European Championships from 1931 to 1939. Six of those were for Greco-Roman, and three were for freestyle wrestling.
The Top 5 Male Olympic Wrestlers of All-Time
In the illustrious history of Olympic wrestling, these five athletes stand out as true legends.
Their physical prowess, mental fortitude, innovation and enduring dedication remind us of the spirit of excellence that defines the Olympic Games and ancient combat.
Did we miss anyone off our list? Let us know in the comments!
