Mohammad Reza Geraei[1][2][3] (Persian: محمدرضا گرایی, born 25 July 1996),[4][5] is an Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler. At the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, he won the gold medal in the men's 67 kg event. In 2018, he won one of the bronze medals in the men's 67 kg event at the Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.[4]

Mohammad Reza Geraei
Geraei at the 2018 Asian Games
Personal information
Native nameمحمدرضا گرایی‎
NicknameThe Iceman
Nationality Iran
Born (1996-07-25) 25 July 1996 (age 27)
Shiraz, Iran
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
CountryIran
SportGreco-Roman wrestling
Weight class67 kg[1]
Coached byRahim Givi
Mohammad Bana
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing  Iran
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 67 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Oslo 67 kg
Silver medal – second place 2022 Belgrade 67 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Belgrade 67 kg
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Jakarta 67 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Xi'an 72 kg
Olympic Qualification Tournament
Gold medal – first place 2021 Almaty 67 kg
Bolat Turlykhanov Cup
Gold medal – first place 2022 Almaty 72 kg
World U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Budapest 72 kg
Asian Junior Championship
Silver medal – second place 2016 Manila 60 kg

Career edit

In 2019, he won the gold medal in the 72 kg event at the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships held in Xi'an, China.[6] At the 2019 World U23 Wrestling Championship held in Budapest, Hungary, he won the gold medal in the men's 72 kg event.[7][8] In the final, he defeated Sanan Suleymanov of Azerbaijan. In the same year, he also won the silver medal in the 77 kg event at the 2019 Asian U23 Wrestling Championship held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.[9] At the 2021 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he won the gold medal in the men's 67 kg. He qualified for the Tokyo Olympics by winning the semi-finals.

World U23 Championship 2019 edit

In the weight category of 72 kg, Mohammad Reza Garai passed the barrier of last year's champion Genghis Arsalan 10: 3 in the first round with a result of 10: 3. At this stage, Garai defeated Ramaz Zweidze, the silver medalist of the world under-23s from Georgia, with a result of 7: 5 and a technical blow, and reached the semi-finals. In this match, he defeated Maksim Yutoshenko from Ukraine with a result of 6 to 2 and advanced to the final match. In the final match, he defeated Suleimanov of Azerbaijan with a score of 7: 0 and won the gold medal.

Asian Championship 2019 edit

In the 72 kg weight category, Mohammad Reza Garai, after a break in the first round, won the second round with a score of 8: 0 against Aram Wardanian, an Asian bronze medalist from Uzbekistan, and reached the semi-finals. At this stage, he crossed the barrier of world silver medalist Dimio Jadryev from Kazakhstan with a result of 9: 3 and reached the final match. In the final, Garai defeated Hugh Joon Zhang of China 5–0 in the final to win the gold medal.

Asian Games 2018 edit

In the first round, Mohammad Reza Garai defeated Abdul Karim al-Hassan Suri in the first round, and in the second round, he defeated Olympic and world bronze medalist Al-Murat Tasmuradov of Uzbekistan to advance to the semifinals. In this match, he competed against the Kazakh Almaty Kabispayev, the silver and bronze medalist of the world, who was defeated by a technical blow at the very beginning of the wrestling and failed to reach the final. In the 67 kg weight class, Garai competed against Taiwan's Hong Ying-hova, defeating his opponent 11–0 in less than a minute to win the bronze medal.

Personal life edit

His older brother Mohammadali Geraei also competes in the Greco-Roman wrestling.

Greco-roman record edit

International Senior GRECO-ROMAN Matches
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2021 World Championships   at 67 kg
Win 16-0   Nazir Abdullaev 5-2 October 9, 2021 2021 World Championships   Oslo, Norway
Win 15-0   Ramaz Zoidze 7-6 October 8, 2021
Win 14-0   Hasrat Jafarov TF 11–0
Win 13-0   Shimoyamada Tsuchika 6-5
2020 Summer Olympics   at 67 kg
Win 12-0   Parviz Nasibov 9-1 August 3–4, 2021 2020 Summer Olympics

  Tokyo, Japan

Win 11-0   Ramaz Zoidze 6-1
Win 10-0   Frank Stäbler TF 5-5
Win 9-0   Horta Stiven 9-0
2019 U23 World Championships   at 72 kg
Win 8-0   SANAN SOLEYMANOV TF 7-0 October 28–30, 2019 2019 U23 World Championships

  Budapest, Hungary

Win 7–0   MAXIM KELASHINKOV TF 9-3
Win 6-0   Ramaz Zoidze TF 7-5
Win 5–0   MAGMOD YARBILOV TF 3-2
Win 4–0   CHENGIZ ARSALAN TF 9-3
2019 Asian Championships   at 72 kg
Win 3-0   Zhang hujun 5–0 24 April 2019 2019 Asian Continental Championships   Xi'an, China
Win 2-0   Demo zhadarev 9–3
Win 1-0   aram vardanian 9–0
 
Geraei in Olympic 2020 medal ceremony
 
Mohammadreza geraei World champion Norway

Achievements edit

Year Tournament Location Result Event
2018 Asian Games   Jakarta, Indonesia 3rd Greco-Roman 67 kg
2019 Asian Championships   Xi'an, China 1st Greco-Roman 72 kg
World U23 Wrestling Championships  Budapest, Hungary 1st Greco-Roman 72 kg
2021 Summer Olympics   Tokyo, Japan 1st Greco-Roman 67 kg
World Wrestling Championships   Oslo, Norway 1st Greco-Roman 67 kg
2022 World Wrestling Championships   Belgrade, Serbia 2nd Greco-Roman 67 kg

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Wrestling: GERAEI Mohammadreza". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  2. ^ Staebler, Frank (5 October 2021). "Mohammadreza Geraei wins men's Greco-Roman wrestling 67kg". Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  3. ^ "'21 Breakthrough Performances of the Year: Geraei, Zare and Focken". UWW.org. United World Wrestling. December 7, 2021. Mohammadreza GERAEI
  4. ^ a b "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). ocagames.com. 2018 Asian Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Iranian Wrestlers Sparkling in the World". Olympic.ir. National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran. December 8, 2021. Mohammad Reza Geraei, the Olympic and World Gold medalist in the 67 kg
  6. ^ "2019 Asian Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ Etchells, Daniel (3 November 2019). "Iran add third Greco-Roman gold medal to tally on last day of UWW Under-23 World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  8. ^ "2019 World U23 Wrestling Championship" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. ^ "2019 Asian U23 Wrestling Championship" (PDF). UWW.org. United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.

External links edit