Wrestler Akgul secures first Rio gold medal for Turkey

Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Wrestler Taha Akgul won the first gold medal for Turkey on the penultimate day of the Rio Olympics, defeating Iran‘s Komeil Ghasemi on Saturday in the men‘s 125-kilogram freestyle event.Akgul dedicated his win to the people of Turkey in the wake of last month‘s failed coup."I send my best wishes to Turkish people and I give this present to them, especially after last month we had so many problems. People just protested and so many people died," he told journalists in Rio."I‘m sending my gold medal to these people, these great and brave people," he added.Akgul had finished ninth in the London Games four years ago, but managed to overpower London bronze medallist Ghasemi during their bout in Rio de Janeiro."I‘m just happy ... I am not going back home with empty hands," he said.Geno Petriashvili of Georgia and Ibrahim Saidau of Belarus took bronze in the event.Saturday also saw the final in the men‘s 86kg class. Russia‘s Abdulrashid Sadulaev clinched gold, while Turkey‘s Selim Yasar won silver. Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan and J‘den Cox of the United States took bronze.