Olympic freestyle wrestling: Japan`s Icho wins 3rd gold

London: Kaori Icho of Japan won her third Olympic gold medal in succession against China`s Jing Ruixue Wednesday with a 3-0 win in the final of the women`s 63 kg freestyle wrestling class.

Spurred on by vocal Japanese support at the ExCel Arena, Icho took immediate advantage with a three-point throw in the first minute of the first round, and won the second with two smaller throws to wrap up the win. Seven-time world champion Icho, 28, remains undefeated at the Olympics after ending Jing`s hopes of a first major title since 2007. Mongolia`s Battsetseg Suronzonbold and Russia`s Lyubov Volosova wrestled their way to bronze earlier Wednesday. Suronzonbold won Mongolia`s first wrestling medal since 1980 with a 3-0 victory on points over Canada`s Martine Dugrenier, a three-time world champion who also lost her bronze medal match in Beijing four years ago. Volosova, three times a world championship losing finalist, defeated Poland`s Monika Ewa Michalik in a clinch at the end of the third period to win 3-1 on points. IANS