"He got what he deserved!" : "Borderline unethical" - Fans left in splits as Olympic champion Luis Orta Sanchez catches opponent securing close win

At the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos – 2024 tournament, Cuban wrestler Luis Orta Sanchez claimed a dramatic victory over Iranian opponent Esmaeil Eivazi. When the latter celebrated with just two seconds left, Orta Sanchez pounced to utilize the moment. The incident left fans divided with some singing praises and others belittling Sanchez's move.

Luis Orta Sanchez, 29, the Greco-Roman wrestler from Cuba, competes in the 60 kg and 67 kg categories. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Orta Sanchez secured a comfortable victory over Japan’s Kenichiro Fumita with 5-1.

Fresh off a stellar 2023 season, Luis Orta Sanchez went head-on with Georgian Leri Abuladze to claim victory with a score of 4-0 in the finals of the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos – 2024 tournament. However, his semifinal bout against the Iranian wrestler Esmaeil Eivazi drew the most attention.

In an Instagram post by Flowrestling, the video featured the Iranian wrestler celebrating with his hand raised. Orta Sanchez, utilizing the opportunity, jumped on his opponent to take a point, with just two seconds left for the whistle. He then emulated Esmaeil Eivazi's victory gesture.

"Luis Orta 🇨🇺 caught Saeid Esmaeili 🇮🇷 celebrating with his back turned to secure the victory with milliseconds on the clock," read the caption.

The internet was left ablaze after this. Some fans were happy that Eivazi lost because of his fault, while others thought Sanchez's last-second move was sly.

One fan pointed out the Iranian's fault in celebrating before the whistle.

"This is gonna run through his mind every night before he goes to bed."

Another fan chimed in to say that Eivazi got what he deserved.

"He got what he deserved!"

However, another fan defended Eivazi and held the Cuban at fault, calling his move 'unethical'.

"I’m sorry, while the Iranian should have absolutely held firm, the actions of the Cuban wrestler were borderline unethical."

Chiming in, another fan detested the move of attacking from behind.

"It was not worthy of a sportsman to attack from behind"

One fan issued that wrestling should go on until the whistle blows.

"Don't stop wrestling til the whistle blows."

One fan hailed Sanchez for the Cuban win.

"Cuba for the win"

The illustrious career of Luis Orta Sanchez

Missing out on the 2022 World Wrestling Championships gold, Luis Orta Sanchez avenged his loss at the 2023 World Championships by winning in the 67 kg. At the 2018 and 2019 Pan American Championships, the 29-year-old clinched the 60 kg and 67 kg in the 2023 Pan American Championships.

To end his 2023 year on a good note, he also finished atop the 67 kg podium at the Pan American Games. Luis Orta Sanchez is currently on the run for his second Olympic entry.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer