Japan takes 2 wrestling golds; American Kennedy Blades wins silver

PARIS — Wrestling powerhouse Japan bagged two freestyle golds through Kotaro Kiyooka and Yuka Kagami on the final day at the Paris Olympics on Sunday to boost their bumper crop of medals.

Japan finished its campaign with eight golds — three more than in Tokyo three years ago — with Iran, Bulgaria and the United States all trailing far behind on the medal table with two apiece.

Bahrain’s Akhmed Tazhudinov, who competed for Russia until 2022, won Sunday’s other gold, confirming his growing stature in the 97kg class.

Kiyooka was under pressure to deliver, having beaten compatriot and Tokyo gold medalist Takuto Otoguro in the wrestle-off for a place in Paris.

The 23-year-old did not disappoint as he beat Iran’s Rahman Amouzadkhalili 10-3 in the gold-medal bout.

Kiyooka scored a takedown and four turns for a 10-1 lead in the first period.

“There was a certain degree of pressure on me having defeated the Tokyo champion,” Kiyooka told reporters.

“But I think that pressure actually helped me a bit.”

Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico and Albania’s Islam Dudaev took bronze.

Kagami, who trains with male wrestlers at Japan’s Toyo University to be at her sharpest, won the women’s 76kg gold by beating Kennedy Blades of the U.S. 3-1.

Kagami scored a takedown out of bounds in the second period and hung on to it despite desperate efforts by her opponent in the remainder of the bout.

Milaimy Marin of Cuba and Tatiana Renteria of Colombia won bronze.

In the men’s 97kg, Georgia’s Givi Matcharashvili had to settle for silver as world champion Tazhudinov won the final by pinfall.

Magomedkhan Magomedov of Azerbaijan and Iran’s Amirali Azarpira took bronze.

–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media