Stelios Migiakis
Gold medal, July 22, 1980, Stelios Mygiakis cat. 62k. Moscow 1980
After whole 20 years Greece wins a gold medal at the Olympic Games again. Stelios Mygiakis is a big star in the 62 kg category of Greco-Roman wrestling. Nothing was easy for the Greek champion with a great soul. He defeated the 1976 Polish Olympic champion Kazimierz Lipien, as well as Ghulam Sanay from Afghanistan and Malmkvist from Sweden. In total there were 11 wrestlers in the group, so nothing is decided yet. With the Soviet Boris Kramorenko, the theoretical favorite, waiting for him, but the Greek champion remains undefeated as in the grand final against the Hungarian Istvan Toth. The Hungarian champion tried to eliminate both with three submissions because he had the besttechnical score, however failed. Mygiakis played these two difficult and decisive games within an hour, nothing was easy.
The final Ranking: Mygiakis (Greece) Toth (Hungary) Kramorenko (USA) Frgic (Yugoslavia) Kirov (Bulgaria) Lipien (Poland) Karout (Syria) Vejsada (Czech Republic)
They said..
“It was the best moment of my life. Years of fatigue and hardship were rewarded in Moscow, a city I will never forget. My overexertion was terrible, I remember that two days before the fight against Kramorenko I could not sleep. A thousand thoughts went through my head, I knew that he was a great athlete. I told myself that this match is my whole life, I have to avoid mistakes. Toth always lost to me and I was not afraid even though I knew he wanted us both to lose. I was just afraid to pay for the terrible fatigue I felt. I remember that the night after the gold medal we got drunk together with my coach Petros Galaktopoulos”.
July 22, 1980
