Ivan's Story
Russian-born Ivan Popov made his Olympic debut in the men’s 130kg division at Rio and was Australia’s only competitor in the Greco-roman category.
The 204cm wrestler took on Sweden’s Johan Magnus Euren in his opening round, who proved to be a tough competitior defeated the Australian 5-0.
Popov made history in 2010 by claiming the first Commonwealth Games wrestling gold medal for Australia in 32 years in the 120kg Greco-Roman division.
The son of Olympic bronze medallist 1988, 1987 World Champion and 1987 and 1989 European Champion Vladimir Popov, Ivan moved to Australia in 2003 to compete in the green and gold, but the 2016 Games became a reality when he won back-to-back Australian titles in 2015 and 2016.
The 33-year-old was unable to defend his title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games after it was announced that only freestyle divisions would be contested.
Popov’s brother, Vladimir junior is also an Australian Greco-Roman wrestler in the 85kg division and has also won a number of Australian titles. Popov lives in Melbourne with his wife, Olga.
