Romanian wrestler Gheorghiță Ștefan will receive, after eight years, the bronze medal of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, as the Uzbek Soslan Tighiev, who had defeated him in the decisive fight, was revealed as doped and was stripped of his medal, as the international wrestling Federation has announced on its website.
“The 34th Olympic medal for Romania in wrestling! Gheorghiță Ștefan is bronze medallist at the Beijing Olympics, the 2008 edition! The good news came today from the UWW, which announced several changes in the rankings because of athletes tested positive. It is a great result for an exceptional athlete! Congratulations, Gheorghiță Ștefan! Go Romania!” wrote the Romanian Wrestling Federation president Razvan Pîrcălabu on his Facebook page.
Gheorghiță Ștefan was defeated by Thighiev in the 74 kg category last sixteen round.
Following the latest decisions, the gold medal goes to Russian Buvaisar Saitiev, Belarusian Murad Gaidarov takes the silver and the bronze medals go to Bulgarian Kyril Terziev and to Romanian Gheorghiță Ștefan.
Romania’s results at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is thus 4 gold medals, one silver and 4 bronze medals.