Native of Abkhazia Denis Tsargush wins Olympic bronze in freestyle wrestling

A native of Abkhazia Denis Tsargush, a member of the Russian team at the Olympic Games in London, has won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling in the weight category of up to 74 kg.

In his fight for bronze, Tsargush met the Canadian Matthew Judah Gentri. The first period was almost equal, but the member of the Russian team managed to take one point and went ahead. In the second round the Canadian had no choice but to go ahead, but Denis had a great tactical fight; at the end of the period he managed to seize the leg of his rival and won the fight, the "Vesti" reports.

The fight ended with the score 3:0 (1:0, 2:0) and brought a bronze medal to the 24-year-old Denis Tsargush, the RIA "Novosti" reports. The Tsargush's medal was the jubilee one – the 60^th Russian medal in London.

Denis Tsargush is the second native of Abkhazia to take part in the Olympics – the first one was Saida Gunba, who became a silver medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics in javelin, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In Sukhumi, a large screen was installed on the embankment, where numerous Denis' fans could watch his fights. "Dennis is our fellow countryman; and we all watched his fights with great interest and welcomed his victory," said Oleg Karapetyan, a Sukhumi resident. "We are delighted that he will return home an Olympic Champion."

"This victory is not only Denis Tsargush's and Russian national team's victory; it's our victory too. The achievements of Denis provide incentives for Abkhazian youth; after his victories our gyms are full of children who want to achieve the same success," said Mikhail Tskua, a resident of Sukhumi.