• The 23-year-old defeated Artem Surkov in the Men’s Greco-Roman 67-kg category, while compatriot Mohamed Metwally fell short in his 87-kg contest
• Elsayed’s bronze was the fifth wrestling medal for Egypt in Olympic history

Ali Khaled

Egyptian wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed has won a bronze medal in the men’s Greco-Roman 67-kg event after beating Artrem Surkov of the Russian Olympic Committee at Makuhari Messe Hall on Wednesday afternoon.

Elsewhere, Elsayed’s compatriot Mohamed Metwally failed in his own 87-kg bronze medal quest, falling 8-1 to German Denis Kudla.

Elsayed’s bronze was the fifth wrestling medal for Egypt in Olympic history, with the three-time African champion’s superb defensive performance earning him the win after he scored the final point in a 1-1 tie.

Elsayed went one point down early on in the first period but managed to limit the deficit until the break.

The 23-year-old from Alexandria squared the match with just 1:55 left on the clock before then defending heroically to see out the win.

After confirming his victory, a delighted Elsayed celebrated by carrying his coach on his shoulders.

The Iranian Mohammadreza Geraei won the 67-kg gold after comfortably defeating Ukrainian Parviz Nasibov 9-1.

In his fixture — which followed Elsayed’s glory — Metwally led 1-0 at the end of a tight first period, but his German opponent came back strongly in the second round and twice posted two points in quick succession to lead 5-1 with a minute left. The Egyptian eventually lost 8-1 after being pinned by Kudla with 24 seconds to go.