Lázaro Rivas

Lázaro "El Cocuyo" Rivas Scull (born April 4, 1975 in San Nicolás de Bari , † December 22, 2013 in San José de las Lajas ) was a Cuban wrestler . He became world champion in 1999 and won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 , each time in Greco-Roman style in flyweight .

Career

Lázaro Rivas started wrestling in 1985 when he was ten. He focused on the Greco-Roman style. After winning several medals, he was accepted into the Escuela de Iniciación Deportiva (EIDE) of the La Habana Province in 1987. In 1990 he was promoted to the Escuela Superior de Perfeccionamiento Atlético (ESPA) in the country. Rivas became a member of the Cerro Pelado Havana sports club and was mainly coached by Pedor Val. He was a physical education teacher and has wrestled flyweight throughout his career.

He made his first start at an important international tournament in 1996. He qualified at a tournament in Cali / Colombia with a 1st place for participation in the Olympic Games this year in Atlanta. In Atlanta he played his first major international championship at the Olympic Games at the age of 21, making him the first Olympic participant from San Nicolás de Bari. He defeated the 1992 Olympic champion Jon Rønningen from Norway in his first fight . Then he won against Khaled Al-Faraj from Syria, lost to Armen Nazarjan from Armenia and Samwel Danieljan from Russia and still triumphed over Jordan Anew from Bulgaria, which secured him 5th place.

In 1997 he became Pan-American Champion in San Juan (Puerto Rico) ahead of Broderick Lee, United States and Mauricio Velez, Colombia. At the 1997 World Cup in Wroclaw, he won a victory over Rachimdschan Assembekow from Kazakhstan, then lost to Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan from Germany, defeated Namik Mustafejew from Azerbaijan and Tero Eerik Katajisto from Finland, before he lost again to Ha Tae- yeon left South Korea and took 9th place. In 1998, Lázaro Rivas was the Pan-American champion in Winnipeg, ahead of David Enrique Ochoa Garcia from Venezuela and Shawn Sheldon from the United States. At the World Cup this year, he was not used.

1999 turned out to be the most successful year in Lázaro Rivas' career. First he won the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, where he won the flyweight in front of David Enrique Ochoa Garcia and Steven A. Mays from the United States, then he was also world champion in Athens. He defeated Masatsune Sasaki, Japan, Marian Sandu , Romania, Tero Eeri Katajisto, Kang Yong-gyun , North Korea, Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan and Ha Tae-yeon. The greatest resistance was provided by Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan, against whom he only just won on points (5: 3 points).

In the 2000 Olympic year, Lázaro Rivas again won the Pan-American Championships in Cali / Colombia, relegating David Enrique Ochoa Garcia and Brandon Paulson from the United States to the places. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney he won over Ercan Yıldız , Turkey, Natig Aiwasow , Azerbaijan, Jotham Pellew, New Zealand and Andrij Kalaschnykow , Ukraine and was thus in the final against the 1996 Olympic champion in light flyweight Sim Gwon-ho from South Korea, against whom he had no chance and lost on points. He won an Olympic silver medal with it.

In 2001 Lázaro Rivas was surprisingly beaten by Jorge Cardoso from Venezuela in the final of the Pan-American Championship in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). He then won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Patras / Greece. He won there over Claudiu Florin Gavrila, Romania, Artasches Minasjan, Armenia and Mukes Chatri, India. Then he lost to Hassan Rangraz from Iran and secured the bronze medal by defeating Uran Kalilow , Kyrgyzstan.

In 2002, Lázaro Rivas won back the Pan-American championship title in Maracaibo. This time he won the final over Jorge Cardoso. At the World Cup in 2002 he was not at the start. In 2003 he won the Pan-American Games in Santo Domingo in front of Brandon Paulson and Eduardo Freites from Venezuela and at the 2003 World Cup in Créteil he won with victories over Kamol Cholmatow, Uzbekistan, Brandon Paulson and Uran Kalilow, a defeat against Im Dae-won , South Korea and a victory over Petr Svehla , Czech Republic a bronze medal again.

After another win at the 2004 Pan-American Championships in Guatemala City, where he won ahead of Eduardo Freites and Julio Wilman Maldonado Quintanilla from Guatemala, he stayed at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the third in which he competed, with a 5th place. Place without a medal. He won in Athens over Samir Ben Chenaf, Algeria and Hassan Rangraz, then lost to István Majoros from Hungary and still won over Irakli Chochua from Georgia.

In 2005 and 2006, Lázaro Rivas was again the Pan-American champion in Guatemala City and Rio de Janeiro. But he only took part in one world championship, that of Budapest in 2005. There he won over Claudiu Flores Gavrila, Masatoshi Toyota, Japan and Irakli Chochua, then lost to Hamid Soryan Reihanpour from Iran, won over Wugar Ragimow , Ukraine and lost a bronze medal by defeating Ermek Kuketow from Kazakhstan.

In 2007 Lázaro Rivas won only one bronze medal at the Pan-American Championship in San Salvador and then ended his international wrestling career. In February 2011 he finally retired from active sport.

On December 21, 2013, he attended a reggaeton concert in his hometown of San Nicolás de Bari and was injured on the sidelines of the event around midnight with eleven stab wounds in the back, neck and stomach. The perpetrator, a nineteen-year-old competitive athlete, later turned himself in to the police. Rivas was brought to the hospital in the provincial capital of San José de las Lajas, 30 km away, after first aid treatment in the local infirmary and an hour of waiting for the only ambulance in the province, but died there from serious injuries. He was buried on December 24, 2013 in San Nicolás.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1996	1.	Italian Grand Prix in Faenza	To fly	before Witali Ceban, Moldova and Stoicio Iwanow, Bulgaria
1996	1.	Olympic qualification tournament in Cali / Colombia	To fly	in front of Lefere Schering, USA and Ulises Valentin, Dom. Rep.
1996	5.	OS in Atlanta	To fly	after victories over Jon Rønningen , Norway and Khaled Al-Faraj , Syria, defeats against Armen Nazarjan , Armenia and Samwel Danieljan , Russia and a victory over Jordan Anew , Bulgaria
1996	3.	World Cup in Colorado Springs	To fly	behind Shawn Sheldon, USA and Boris Ambarzumow , Russia, in front of Ha Tae-yeon, South Korea
1997	1.	Panamerica. Championship in San Juan (Puerto Rico)	To fly	before Broderick Lee, USA and Mauricio Velez, Colombia
1997	9.	World Cup in Wrocław	To fly	after a victory over Rachimdschan Assembekow, Kazakhstan, a defeat against Alfred Ter-Mkrtchya, Germany, victories over Namik Mustafejew, Azerbaijan and Tero Eerik Katajisto, Finland and a defeat against Ha Tae-yeon
1998	2.	FILA test tournament in Faenza	To fly	behind Francesco Constantino, Italy, ahead of Özgur Uygun, Turkey and Petr Svehla, Czech Republic
1998	1.	Panamerica. Championship in Winnipeg	To fly	before David Enrique Ochoa Garcia, Venezuela and Shawn Sheldon
1999	1.	Panamerica. Games in Winnipeg	To fly	before Davie Enrique Ochoa Garcia and Steven A. Mays, USA
1999	1.	World Cup in Athens	To fly	after victories over Masatsune Sasaki, Japan, Marian Sandu, Romania, Tero Eerik Katajisto, Kang Yang-Gyun, North Korea and Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan and Ha Tae-yeon
2000	1.	Panamerica. Championship in Cali / Colombia	To fly	before David Enrique Ochoa Garcia and Brandon Paulson, USA
2000	silver	OS in Sydney	To fly	after victories over Ercan Yıldız , Turkey, Natig Aiwasow , Azerbaijan, Jotham Pellew , New Zealand and Andrij Kalaschnykow , Ukraine and a defeat against Sim Gwon-ho , South Korea
2001	2.	Panamerica. Championship in Santo Domingo / Cathedral. Rep.	To fly	behind Jorge Cardoso, Venezuela and in front of Jeff Cervone, USA
2001	3.	World Cup in Patras	To fly	after victories over Claudiu Florin Gavrilă, Romania, Artasches Minasjan, Armenia and Mukes Chatri, India, a defeat against Hassan Rangraz, Iran and a victory over Uran Kalilow, Kyrgyzstan
2002	1.	Panamerica. Championship in Maracaibo	Bantam	before Jorge Cardoso and Julio Wilman Maldonado Quintanilla, Guatemala
2003	1.	Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs	Bantam	before Brandon Paulson and Assat Imanbajew, Kazakhstan
2003	1.	Panamerica. Games in Santo Domingo / Cathedral. Rep.	Bantam	before Brandon Paulson and Eduardo Freites, Venezuela
2003	3.	World Cup in Créteil	Bantam	after victories over Kamol Cholmatow, Uzbekistan, Brandon Paulson, USA and Uran Kalilow, a defeat against Im Dae-won, South Korea and a win over Petr Svehla, Czech Republic
2004	1.	Panamerica. Championship in Guatemala City	Bantam	before Eduardo Freites and Julio Wilman Maldonado Quintanella
2004	1.	German Grand Prix in Dortmund	Bantam	before Håkan Nyblom , Denmark, Renat Bikkinin, Russia and Anders Nyblom , Denmark
2004	5.	OS in Athens	Bantam	after victories over Samir Ben Chenaf , Algeria and Hassan Rangraz , a defeat against István Majoros , Hungary and a win over Irakli Chochua , Georgia
2005	2.	World Cup in Tehran	Bantam	behind Hassan Rangraz, in front of Dimitri Charko, Ukraine
2005	2.	Granma Cup in Sancti Spíritus	Bantam	behind Mairel Martinez, Cuba, in front of Lindsey Durlacher
2005	1.	Panamerica. Championship in Guatemala City	Bantam	in front of Jansel Ramirez, Dom. Rep. And Julio Wilman Maldonado Quintanilla
2005	12.	German Grand Prix in Dortmund	Bantam	Winner: Alexei Schaipak, Belarus ahead of Anders Nyblom
2005	5.	World Cup in Budapest	Bantam	after victories over Claudfiu Flores Gavrila, Masatoshi Toyota, Japan and Irakli Chochua, a defeat against Hamid Soryan Reihanpour, Iran, a victory over Wugar Ragimow, Ukraine and a defeat against Ermek Kuketow, Kazakhstan
2006	1.	Panamerica. Championship in Rio de Janeiro	Bantam	before Lindsey Durlacher, USA and Paul Sobrado Nunta, Peru
2006	1.	Central America. & Caribbean Games in Cartagena / Colombia	Bantam	in front of Jansel Ramirez, Dom. Rep. And Julio Munoz, Colombia
2007	3.	Panamerica. Championship in San Salvador	Bantam	behind Jansel Ramirez and Jorge Cardoso

Explanations

• all competitions in Greco-Roman style
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship
• Flyweight, until 1996 up to 52 kg, from 1997 to 2001 up to 54 kg, then abolished, bantam weight, since 2002 up to 55 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• Website "www.themat.com"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Muerte de astro olímpico relacionada con mal servicio de urgencias , In: Cubanet of December 27, 2013, accessed on January 4, 2014 (Spanish)
2. ↑ Sepultado Lázaro Rivas, uno de los grandes luchadores de Cuba. ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Radio Habana Cuba from December 25, 2013 (Spanish)

Web links

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