Men's Wrestling Competition at Buenos Aires 2018

Summer Youth Olympics 

2018 

Wrestling Competition at  Buenos Aires 2018

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina’s David Almendra had an unforgettable experience at Buenos Aires 2018. He made it to the final in the 55kg category and took a silver medal after losing to US wrestler Robert Howard.

Almendra opened the day with a 4-0 victory over Guam’s Gavin Stefan Sablan Whitt at the Asia Pavilion in the Youth Olympic Park, and later beat Algeria’s Oussama Laribi 5-4, securing a ticket to the final. There, Howard ended up winning by 17-6, but the US athlete made a nice gesture after his triumph - he raised his rival’s arm and got an ovation from the audience.

"He just wrestled in front of his whole country, poured his whole heart out and at the end of the day, it wasn't enough so to show class, it was needed," Howard said. "He deserved it too. That kid fought hard. He made it to the finals. His country's proud of him so to show him respect, it was needed,"

"This medal has a lot of value to me. It's what I've been working for for so long. When I first climbed the podium I got sad because I wanted to be in first place, but it was very moving and I ended up very happy," Almendra said.

Almendra, who was born in Corcovado, a town in the Southern province of Chubut, tried his best in the final, but he ran into a superior rival. Howard had shown his high level in the morning, beating Japan's Hayato Fujita (13-2) and Ukrainian Vladyslav Ostapenko (10-5)

All in all, Almendra is very satisfied with his Olympic debut: "I got to enjoy the fruits of these past four years of preparation. I’m more than happy to have reached an Olympic final. Nothing is impossible. If you put effort into it, you can achieve anything that you set out to achieve."

Almendra’s family enjoyed a very special day watching him from the stands, as did his girlfriend Mikaela Rojas, a judoka who also represented Argentina at Buenos Aires 2018. "I like to share these moments with her. She is someone important to me," Almendra said of Rojas.