Kaori Icho of Japan retained her Olympic champion in the women's 63kg freestyle wrestling on Sunday after defeating Alena Kartashova of Russia in the final.

Icho, 24, defeated the European champion in two overwhelming bouts, winning 1-0, 2-0.

For six straight years, Icho has won all but one gold medals in the 63kg freestyle, including the Athens Games in 2004. As a model of consistency, she almost made others to only compete for the silver in her speciality.

Yelena Shalygina of Kazakhstan and Randi Miller of United States finished joint third.

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2008)