Hassan Ali Bechara

Hassan Ali Bechara (born March 17, 1945 in Beirut ) is a former Lebanese wrestler . He won a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman style super heavyweight at the 1980 Olympics .

Career

Immediately after the Second World War, a strong Greco-Roman style wrestling team formed in Lebanon , which won several medals at international championships. Hassan Ali Bechara continued this tradition in the 1970s and 1980s. The adult athlete who weighs around 100 kg and is 1.80 meters tall started in the heavyweight or super heavyweight division. He started almost exclusively in the Greco-Roman style, only in a few regionally limited championships he also started in freestyle .

His first start at an international championship took place at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City . In the heavyweight division (then over 97 kg body weight) he lost against Constantin Bușoiu from Romania and Petr Kment from Czechoslovakia and came in 12th place. It was similar for him at the 1970 World Cup in Edmonton . In the heavyweight division (now up to 100 kg body weight) he lost to Wacław Orłowski from Poland and Rudolf Lüscher from Switzerland and finished 10th. At the World Cup in Sofia in 1971 , he achieved his first victory. He beat Khalid Hamad from Iraq on points. He then had to give up due to an injury and was unable to place himself.

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , Hassan Ali Bechara remained unplaced in the super heavyweight division (over 100 kg body weight) because he was unable to continue the competition due to an injury after a draw with Rudolf Lüscher. At the world championship in 1973 in Tehran he lost in the super heavyweight division against Schota Morschiladze from the Soviet Union and against Peter Kment and thus finished 9th.

After that, Hassan Ali Bechara did not start at world championships for a few years. He was also not at the start at the 1976 Olympic Games. In 1975 he won his first international medal at the Mediterranean Games in Algiers in the super heavyweight division. He took third place in the super heavyweight division behind Ömer Topuz from Turkey and the Yugoslav Dandji. He did a little better at the 1979 Mediterranean Games in Split in the super heavyweight free style. He took second place there behind Hussein Cokal from Turkey.

In 1980, Bechara took part in the Olympic Games in Moscow for the third time. He started there in the super heavyweight division in the Greco-Roman style. In his first fight there he won over Antonio Lapenna from Italy , then he lost to Artur Diaz from Cuba on points. In the third round he had a bye. Artur Diaz, who won against Bechara in the second round, lost in the first round against Alexandar Tomow from Bulgaria and in the third round against Oleksandr Kolchynskyj from the Soviet Union . Due to these defeats, he was eliminated after the third round. After the third round, only Tomow, Kolchynskyj and Bechara were in the competition. Bechara then lost to both wrestlers, but had already won an Olympic bronze medal due to these fortunate circumstances . This was the last medal won by a Lebanese wrestler at the Olympic Games or World Championships for the time being.

In 1983 and 1992 Hassan Ali Bechara started at the Arab championships and the Arab games and achieved good results there.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class
1968	12.	OS in Mexico City	GR	Heavy	after defeats against Constantin Bușoiu , Romania a . Petr Kment , ČSSR
1970	10.	World Cup in Edmonton	GR	Heavy	after defeats against Wacław Orłowski , Poland a . Rudolf Lüscher, Switzerland
1971	unpl.	World Cup in Sofia	GR	Heavy	after a victory over Khalid Hamad, Iraq a . a loss to Marin Kolew, Bulgaria, surrendered due to injury
1972	unpl.	OS in Munich	GR	Heavy	after a draw with Rudolf Lüscher resigned due to injury
1973	9.	World Cup in Tehran	GR	Super heavy	after defeats against Schota Morschiladze , USSR a . Petr Kment
1975	3.	Mediterranean Games in Algiers	GR	Super heavy	behind Ömer Topuz , Turkey a . Dandji, Yugoslavia
1979	6th	Mediterranean Games in Split	GR	Super heavy	Winner: Prvoslav Ilic , Yugoslavia ahead of Kenan Ege, Turkey
1979	2.	Mediterranean Games in Split	F.	Super heavy	behind Hussein Cokal, Turkey, in front of Dimitrios Spiridopoulos, Greece
1980	bronze	OS in Moscow	GR	Super heavy	with a victory over Antonio Lapenna, Italy a . Losses against Arturo Diaz, Cuba , Alexandar Tomov , Bulgaria and Oleksandr Kolchynskyj , USSR
1983	2.	Arab championship in Casablanca	F.	Super heavy	behind Khalid Hamad, Iraq , in front of Munji Al-Jamali, Tunisia
1983	3.	Arab championship in Casablanca	GR	Super heavy	behind Farhan Jassin, Iraq u. Ali Gharbi, Tunisia
1992	5.	Arab games in Damascus	GR	Super heavy	behind Hamdan Ramdoun, Syria , Omrane Ayari, Tunisia, Hassan Haddad, Egypt u. Yussuf Alkhoran, Kingdom of Arabia

Note: F = free style, GR = Greco-Roman style, heavyweight, up to 1968 over 97 kg, from 1969 up to 100 kg, super heavyweight, from 1969 over 100 kg

swell

• Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships, 1976,
• Trade magazines Athletik and Der Ringer ,
• Website of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig

Web links

• Profile of Hassan Ali Bechara at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Hassan Ali Bechara in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )