Nationality Cuba Club Cerro Pelado Height 1.82 m Event Freestyle wrestling | Sport Wrestling Coached by Julio Mendieta Weight 96 kg | |
Full name Michel Batista Martínez Born 20 April 1984 (age 32) ( 1984-04-20 ) Camagüey, Cuba | ||
Michel Batista Martínez (born April 20, 1984 in Camagüey) is an amateur Cuban freestyle wrestler, who played for the men's heavyweight category. He won a gold medal for his division at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeating Venezuela's Luis Vivénes.
Batista represented Cuba at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 96 kg class. He received an automatic free pass from the preliminary round of sixteen after U.S. wrestler Daniel Cormier had been withdrawn from the competition due to complications related to excessive weight cutting. He lost the quarterfinal match to Kazakhstan's Taimuraz Tigiyev, who was able to score three points in two straight periods, leaving Batista without a single point. Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Batista offered another shot for the bronze medal by defeating his former opponent Vivenes in the repechage round. He progressed to the bronze medal match, but narrowly lost by a fall to Georgia's Giorgi Gogshelidze.