World champion Ismael Borrero Molina from Cuba won the first wrestling gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the men's Greco-Roman 59kg category when he toppled the surprise finalist Shinobu Ota of Japan on Sunday (14 August).

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The Cuban seized his first chance in Carioca Arena 2 to lift up and throw Ota to the mat to take the lead in the first period, and sealed victory with another throw in the second.

Ota had been the star of the category up to that point. Nicknamed 'ninja wrestler', he beat several medal contenders, including gold medal favourite Hamid Mohammad Soryan of Iran.

The defending champion crashed out of contention – literally – in the preliminary round, when he stumbled off the mat and took a scoreboard down with him in his match against Ota. Soryan then lost his repechage match to leave without medal.

The bronze medals were won by Norway's Stig-Andre Berge, who entertained the crowd with a victory dance, and Elmurat Tasmuradov of Uzbekistan.

Wrestling tournament gets underway with massive upset in Carioca Arena 2

In the 75kg category, London 2012 Olympic champion Roman Vlasov from Russia suffered bleeding around his eyebrow in an early bout, before beating Mark Overgaard Madsen of Denmark in the final.

Roman Vlasov (r) got the better of Mark Overgaard Madsen of Denmark in the final (Photo: Getty Images/David Ramos)

There was controversy in Vlasov's round of 16 bout against London 2012 66kg champion Kim Hyeonwoo of Korea, whose final throw scored only two points, a decision Kim's coaches protested in vain.

Kim bounced back to win a bronze medal, the other going to Saeid Morad Abdvali of Iran.

Consolation for Denmark's Madsen was the first medal (silver) won by his country in Greco-Roman wrestling since London 1948.

Rio 2016 wrestling: schedule and results