Blades settles for silver; USA ends Olympics with seven medals

Photo: Kennedy Blades (left) battled Japan’s Yuka Kagami, but it wasn’t enough as the Illinois native settled for a silver medal at 76 kilograms in women’s freestyle to end the 2024 Olympics in Paris. (Justin Hoch photo)

By Tristan Warner

PARIS – The United States added one more medal on the final day of Olympic Wrestling in Champ de Mars Arena, as Kennedy Blades nabbed a silver medal at 76 kg in women’s freestyle.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO WIN MAGAZINE AND GET THE POST-OLYMPIC ISSUE

WIN Publisher Bryan Van Kley (left) and Assistant Editor Tristan Warner are in Paris all week covering the Olympics. Click on the photo to watch their daily video recaps.

Kyle Snyder, the former 2016 Olympic gold medalist and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, finished in fifth place at 97 kilograms, while Zain Retherford was forced to withdraw from the tournament at 65 kilograms due to a head injury.

Overall, Team USA  concluded the Paris Olympics with seven total medals, including two gold (Amit Elor and Sarah Hildebrandt), two silver (Spencer Lee and Blades) and three bronze (Kyle Dake, Aaron Brooks and Helen Maroulis).

Olympic rookie Blades takes home silver medal

Kennedy Blades, the 20-year-old Illinois native and Iowa Hawkeye commit, took the mats Sunday afternoon in the Olympic gold-medal bout against defending Senior level World champion Yuka Kagami of Japan.

Kagami opened the scoring early with an inactivity point, but Blades earned a step out point just before the break to take a 1-1 lead on criteria.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH KENNEDY BLADES TALK ABOUT HER FIRST OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE

In the second period, both wrestlers narrowly avoided stepping out of bounds on several occasions before Kagami converted a takedown on the edge of the mat to take a 3-1 lead with two minutes remaining.

The veteran Japanese wrestler was able to fend off Blades’ late shot attempts to earn her first Olympic gold medal and Japan’s fourth of the Paris Games in women’s freestyle.

“Obviously I wanted gold, but this is still a huge accomplishment,” Blades said. “Her positioning was great; Japan in general, they stay very disciplined in their positioning. It was a fun match, and I hope we put on a show for the fans.”

Stepping out on to the Olympic stage at just 20 years old, Blades spoke of how she quelled her nerves and still walked out onto the mat with a beaming smile.

“I leaned on Christ every match,” she reflected. “It was an intense battle, so I knew I needed a higher power. Also, seeing my support system out in the crowd made me so happy. I love them so much.”

Snyder drops blood-time plagued bronze-medal match

Kyle Snyder was defeated 4-1 by Iran’s Amirali Azarpira in a 97-kilogram bronze-medal bout that endured several long stoppages for blood time deployed for both wrestlers.

A bloodied Kyle Snyder was not able to penetrate the defense of Iran’s Amirali Azarpira. (Justin Hoch photo)

Snyder was taken down on a counter-attack by the Iranian in the first period while also being forced out of bounds for two stepout points, with his lone score coming on an inactivity point.

“I gave up the takedown early, and I knew he’s got good defense and blocks well,” Snyder stated after the match. “So, it was going to be tough to get back. I just wasn’t able to set him up and get to his legs.”

The Maryland native and three-time Olympian posted a 2-2 record and a fifth-place finish for Team USA. With Snyder’s loss ended a remarkable streak of nine-straight Senior level world and Olympic medals.

“I will just go back and keep training,” he said. “I know God has a plan, so I’ll just get back to work and move on. I will use this and learn from it, get better, and keep trying to be the best.”

 NJ’s Rivera’s stages epic comeback for Puerto Rico

Rivera, the New Jersey native and five-time All-American from Northwestern and later Rutgers, started the morning with a comeback tech. fall victory in repechage action over Maxim Sacultan (Moldova), 15-4. Rivera trailed 4-0 early but reeled off consecutive takedowns and multiple trap-arm gut wrenches to advance to the bronze-medal match.

Sebastian Rivera (top), the former All-American from Northwestern and Rutgers scored a takedown in the closing seconds to earn a bronze medal for Puerto Rico. (Justin Hoch photo)

In a back-and-forth bronze-medal contest, Rivera trailed 9-8 in the final 10 seconds against Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir. Slipping behind his opponent in the final seconds and forcing the Mongolian’s knee to the mat, no takedown was initially awarded. However, a coaches’ challenge reversed the call, giving Rivera his first Olympic medal and Puerto Rico its second-ever Olympic wrestling medal. 

Day 7 Full Match Notes:

Women’s Freestyle

76k – Kennedy Blades – Silver Medalist

Gold-Medal Match – lost to Yuka Kagami (Japan), 3-1 — The 2023 World champ scored the bout’s only takedown with 1:22 left on a double going off the mat. The win gave the Japanese women their fourth gold medalist of the Olympics, with the U.S. winning the other two. Kagami got on the board first when she earned a shot-clock point against Blades at the 4:45 mark of the match. Blades evened the score when she forced Kagami out of bounds at the 3:59 mark. 

Men’s Freestyle

97k – Kyle Snyder – 5^th Place

Bronze-Medal Match — lost to Amirali Azarpira (Iran), 4-1 — In a match that was stopped five times because of blood issues, the Iranian scored the bout’s only takedown off a counter to a Snyder shot, converting on a single leg midway through the first period… then added two more stepout points in the second period. Snyder’s only point came after Azarpira failed to score on the activity clock a minute into the second period.