Peter Pecha

Peter Pecha (born November 16, 1975 in Bratislava) is a retired amateur Slovak freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's heavyweight category.[1] Pecha represented his nation Slovakia in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004), and also achieved a top 5 finish in the 130-kg division at the 2000 European Wrestling Championships in Budapest. Throughout his sporting career, Pecha trained as part of the freestyle wrestling team for AŠK Dukla Trenčín, under his longtime coach and mentor Petr Hirjak.[2]

Peter Pecha
Personal information
Full namePeter Pecha
Nationality Slovakia
Born (1975-11-16) 16 November 1975
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Weight96 kg (212 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubAŠK Dukla Trenčín
CoachPetr Hirjak

Pecha made his official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he competed in the men's super heavyweight division (130 kg). He lost his opening bout against Germany's Sven Thiele with a technical superiority, and could not fight for the following match against Russia's David Musulbes, who later took home the Olympic gold in the final, because of a hip injury sustained from the previous match. At the preliminary competition, Pecha finished in third place but sixteenth in overall final rankings; he was severely injured during the Games.[3][4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Pecha qualified for the Slovak squad, as a 29-year-old, in the men's heavyweight class (96 kg) by receiving a berth from the second Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.[5][6][7] Pecha could not beat China's Wang Yuanyuan into the ring on his opening duel, but managed to redeem himself by eclipsing the host nation's Alexandros Laliotis in his second match. Pecha finished the preliminary competition second, and twelfth in overall rankings; he did not advance to the quarterfinals.[8][9]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Peter Pecha". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  2. "Slováci do Baku po miestenky na OH v Pekingu" [Slovaks in Baku for a ticket to the Beijing Olympics] (in Slovak). Hospodářské noviny. 16 September 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  3. "Sydney 2000: Wrestling – Super Heavyweight Freestyle (130kg)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 134–135. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. "30 September – pätnásty deň na OH" [September 30: The fifteenth day of the Olympics] (in Slovak). Slovak Olympic Committee. 30 September 2000. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  5. Abbott, Gary (18 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  6. "Pecha a Fernyák chcú zlepšiť Sydney" [Pecha and Fernyák want to improve from Sydney] (in Slovak). Hospodářské noviny. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  7. "Pecha si vybojoval olympijskú miestenku" [Pecha takes the Olympic slot] (in Slovak). Hospodářské noviny. 16 February 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  8. "Zápasenie: Pecha prehral v úvodnom dueli do 96 kg" [Wrestling: Pecha lost in the opening duel to 96 kg] (in Slovak). SME. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  9. "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 96kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
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