San Marino at Olympics: Wrestler from a country with just 33,860 people has defeated India's Deepak Punia for Olympic bronze in wrestling
San Marino created history at the 2021 Olympics by becoming the least populous country to ever win an Olympic medal. The bronze medal won by Alessandra Perilli was the country's first-ever podium success in 15 Olympic appearances.
Just two days after that, the country added another medal by winning a silver in the mixed trap event. Once again it was Alessandra Perilli who teamed up with Gian Marco Berti to secure the country with its first medal in a team event.
To add to their glorious campaign in Tokyo, wrestler Myles Amine has won the country another bronze medal in wrestling. The grappler defeated India's Deepak Punia to finish on the podium.
The bronze medal ended San Marino's brilliant Olympic campaign with 3 medals. A country with a population of just 33,860 winning 3 medals at the games, is a testament to the magic of the Olympics. They are currently placed at the 69th position in Tokyo.
Despite being the third smallest country in the world, San Marino is now ahead of sporting heavyweights such as Argentina and sprint kings Grenada on the Olympic medal tally. When it comes to size, San Marino is 5 times smaller than Mumbai - a sign of hope for every single country out there wanting to shine at the Summer Games.
Medalists for San Marino at the Olympics
# Alessandra Perilli
Perilli has now become San Marino's most successful Olympian. After winning bronze in the individual trap, the shooter had her eyes set on the mixed event. She paired up with Gian Marco Berti at the mixed event and won the country its first-ever silver medal.
Perilli is one of the best shooters to come out of San Marino. The trap shooter is a former ISSF World Cup winner and has also won many other international competitions. She was agonizingly close to opening San Marino's medal tally at the London Olympics, as she finished 4th in the trap event that year.
# Gian Marco Berti
Gian Marco Berti is the son of Gian Nicola, who represented San Marino at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The shooter made the whole nation proud by winning its first-ever silver medal in the mixed trap event along with Alessandra Perilli.
# Myles Amine
The grappler has been one of the surprise packages of the Olympics for San Marino. He competed in the stacked 86 kg category, where world champions like Hassan Yazdani and David Taylor wrestled.
After losing to the eventual Olympic champion Taylor in the quarterfinals, Myles had a chance to win a medal if he made it through the repechage. Once Taylor made it to the final of the event, Myles Amine was all set to take Ali Shahbanau from Belarus.
The San Marino wrestler pulled off a stunning victory there to move into medal contention. He was up against India's Deepak Punia, who was the favorite to win the bronze medal.
The Indian grappler started the first round brilliantly as he scored 2 points to take an early lead. However, Myles didn't give up that easily, he stayed in the bout and kept making it difficult for Deepak Punia to score more points.
With just seconds left, Myles Amine needed something special to win a bronze medal. That was when he executed a stunning takedown which caught Deepak off guard. Myles Amine was awarded 2 points for that maneuver, which resulted in him finishing the bout 5-3 and winning the Olympic bronze medal.
Also Read: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule