LONDON --

Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan won his third straight Olympic wrestling gold,

beating Georgia's Davit Modzmanashvili in the final of the men's 120-kilogram freestyle event Saturday.

Taymazov joins Alexander Medved of the former Soviet Union and Russian great Alexander Karelin as the only male wrestlers to win gold medals in three straight games.

Taymazov, by virtue of his silver in Sydney in 2000, also equaled Karelin's Olympic medal haul.

Japan's Kaori Icho and Saori Yoshida each won their third straight Olympic golds in women's freestyle earlier this week.

Men's 84-kilogram freestyle



Azerbaijan's Sharif Sharifov beat Jaime Yusept Espinal of Puerto Rico 6-1, 2-0.

Sharifov, the defending world champion, beat American Jake Herbert in a quarterfinal that led to a post-match dispute between U.S. coach Zeke Jones and officials.

Sharifov bounced back with wins over three-time Asian champion Ehsan Naser Lashgari in the semifinals and Espinal in the final.

Espinal delivered just the second silver medal in Puerto Rico's Olympic history -- and the first medal of any kind by a Puerto Rican wrestler.

Men's 60-kg freestyle

Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan won the gold medal, upsetting Besik Kudukhov of Russia 1-0, 5-0.

Asgarov, the junior world champion from 2011, beat American Coleman Scott in the semifinals and took down Kudukhov, the four-time world champion, in the finals.

Kudukhov settled for bronze in Beijing and silver in London.

Scott won bronze for the U.S.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.