Babis Cholidis

Olympic Medals

Wrestling

Bronze medal, August 3, 1984, Babis Cholidis cat. 57kg. Los Angeles 1984

In the category 57kg. 16 wrestlers participated and it seemed difficult for all of them to win the three medals. Babis Cholidis was in very good shape and knew that he would be one of the protagonists. What he did not expect was that luck would not be on his side. He started with three wins and a walkover, overcoming obstacles, in particular Sweden’s Ljungbeck as well as Khalaf (Egypt) and Lachkar (Morocco). The decisive match was now against Japan’s Masaki Eto, who, unlike Cholides, was fully rested when he met the Greek champion. He had played the difficult match against Ljungbeck shortly before, while Eto had entered the semifinals without a match. Cholidis led 6:0 and nothing seemed to change. But fatigue made itself felt, Eto did not play so cleanly and finally the score was tied 6:6. The ticket for the final was won by the Japanese player who, according to the rules of the time, had scored the most points last. The bronze medal was won by Nicolae Zamfir from Romania with 2-1 . The ranking Passarelli (FRG) Eto (Japan) Cholidis (Greece) Zamfir (Romania) Famiano (USA) Ljungbeck (Sweden) Karadag (Turkey) Park(South Korea).

Bronze medal, September 22, 1988, Babis Cholidis cat. 57kg. Seoul 1988

in 1987 Babis Cholidis underwent knee surgery, and by the time of the Seoul Games fluid was collecting in his leg. The Greek champion did not travel to Seoul in his best condition, but he did not lack soul, as always. The draw of his opponents in the group was the worst, he met a Soviet and a Bulgarian, as well as a South Korean. The first fight was very decisive, the Soviet Aleksander Shestakov had won with extraordinary ease a few months earlier at the European Championships. Cholidis fought with tremendous fighting spirit despite knee pain and won the fight with three submissions at the expense of the Soviet champion. He then defeated the Swede Ljungbeck, the American Amado and the South Korean Ho, all with great effort. But the forces left him and in the semifinals he lost to the Bulgarian Stoyan Balov and ended with the bronze medal. His opponent is Chinese Changling Yang, who could not put up with Cholide’s experience (6-1 points). At the end of the competition for the 3rd place, weightlifting world champion Pavlos Saltsidis entered the field and lifted the two-time bronze medalist with his hand. The final ranking: Sike (Hungary) Balov (Bulgaria) Cholidis (Greece)Changling Yang (China) Ho Heo (South Korea) Salah (Iraq) Shestakov (USA) Yildiz (Germany)

They said..

“I came to Los Angeles very well trained, so I thought I could win the gold medal. I lost it in an unfortunate match for me that I will never forget. There was no chance to lose if I had not played half an hour earlier. In the small final Zamfir was a great wrestler and the match was a real derby. But I was determined not to lose the bronze medal. I was bleeding, I was tired, I was beaten, but I did it. For this medal I had become a monk in my life, it was missing in my collection at that time”

August 3, 1984

“I literally went to Seoul with one foot. I never did a whole training with two legs, I always relied on the one, the strong leg. The physiotherapists D. Mimikos and N. Papageorgiou helped me a lot, they sent me to South Korea. I knew that it was my last Olympic participation, but my psychology was not good, especially after the draw. Everything changed with my victory over the Soviet wrestler. In the 3rd place competition, I played smart and with the right tactics.”

September 22, 1988