Ukraine's first-ever black lawmaker wins gold at Tokyo Olympics
Zhan Beleniuk of Ukraine celebrates after winning gold in men's Greco-Roman 87-kilogram wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe event hall in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 4, 2021. (Reuters Photo)


Wrestler Zhan Beleniuk on Wednesday won Ukraine's first gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Beleniuk defeated Viktor Lorincz of Hungary 5-1 in the men's 87-kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling final to claim his second Olympic medal. The Ukrainian wrestler won silver in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.

Beleniuk is a seating deputy in the Ukrainian parliament, representing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party.

Beleniuk, who was born to a Ukrainian mother and a father from Rwanda, is the country's first-ever black lawmaker. He is the first deputy head of the parliamentary Committee on Youth and Sports.

Beleniuk is a two-time world champion and a three-time European champion in wrestling.

The first of the bronze medal matches was won by Germany’s Denis Maksymilian, a bronze medallist in Rio 2016, who defeated Egypt’s Mohamed Metwally by 8-1. The second bronze went to two-time European champion, Serbia’s Zurabi Datunashvili, who overpowered Croatia’s Ivan Huklek by 6-1.

Beleniuk brought Ukraine its fourth medal in wrestling.

Parviz Nasibov settled for silver Wednesday as he was defeated by Mohammad Reza Geraei of Iran in the men's 67-kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling. Earlier, Ukraine's Iryna Koliadenko won bronze in women's 62-kilogram freestyle wrestling, while Alla Cherkasova came in third in the 68-kilogram category.