Hassan Yazdani has been one of the best and most exciting wrestlers in the world since he won his first medal at the 2015 world championships all the way down at 70kgs.
Yazdani holds a stunning 124-8 record on the senior level since his 2014 debut. The only man to beat him since has been the United State’s David Taylor who turned out to be his kryptonite ending the rivalry with a 5-1 series score over the Iranian.
Yazdani Losses:
2015: 70kg World Finals vs Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov of Russia (10-3)
2016: 74kg Paris vs Ali Shabanau of Belarus (6-6)
2016: 74kg Medved vs Khetik Tsabolov of Russia (Fall)
2017: 86kg World Cup vs David Taylor of United States (Fall)
2018: 86kg World Championships vs David Taylor of United States (11-6)
2020: 86kg Olympic Finals vs David Taylor of United States (4-3)
2022: 86kg World Championships vs David Taylor of United States (7-1)
2023: 86kg World Championships vs David Taylor of United States (Fall)
Yazdani Accolades (World/Olympic):
Olympic Games-
2016: 74kg Rio Gold Medal
2020: 86kg Tokyo Silver Medal
World Championships-
2015: 70kg Las Vegas Silver Medal
2017: 86kg Paris Gold Medal
2018: 86kg Budapest Bronze Medal
2019: 86kg Nur-Sultan Gold Medal
2021: 86kg Oslo Gold Medal
2022: 86kg Belgrade Silver Medal
2023: 86kg Belgrade Silver Medal
Coming Into Paris:
Heading into the Paris Olympics there was a bit of doubt about Yazdani’s condition coming back from surgery. He looked solid at the Budapest ranking series a few days ago cruising through the field as expected.
Yazdani himself said he is not 100% and still needs to fix some things but given the almost 2 months until he takes the mat in Paris there is no doubt that he should be fine.
Looking at the field at 86 kilos he is by far the clear favorite to win gold. He has beat nearly everyone in the weight class and in dominant fashion, but there is going to be one interesting match to look forward to if it even happens.
David Taylor was beaten at the USA Olympic Team Trials and has since retired. The wrestler who beat him (Aaron Brooks) will be unseeded and randomly drawn into the bracket, should this match go down in Paris it will be one to watch.