China's hopes of a first-ever men's wrestling gold were dashed early on Wednesday as Cao Liguo was beaten by Japan's Kenichiro Fumita in the 60kg Greco-Roman final.

Meanwhile there was history in the 130kg Greco-Roman final, when Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez became the first athlete to win five consecutive individual gold medals in the same event.

Fumita won by a cumulative score of 4-1 over two periods, and led from start to finish.

Cao requested a challenge out of desperation as time expired, but the judge ruled the result would stand and the 25-year-old Guangxi native had to settle for silver.

Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kazakhstan and North Korean Ri Se-ung earlier took bronze in the event.

China has only two Olympic wrestling golds, with the last one coming in 2008 when Wang Jiao clinched the women's 72kg freestyle. Since then the team has racked up three silvers and four bronzes.

Fumita, meanwhile, becomes the first Japanese entrant to win a Greco-Roman gold since 1984.

In the 130kg final, Lopez, who turns 42 in two weeks' time, defeated Chile's Yasmani Acosta.

With his victory, Lopez broke a tie for four successive individual Olympic golds he shared with 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). (Additional reporting by AFP)
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Last updated: 2024-08-07 HKT 03:56