There have been excessive expectations for the U.S. males’s freestyle wrestling workforce heading into the 2024 Olympics; as an alternative, the six-man squad made historical past for all of the flawed causes.
2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder ended up as America’s final hope to say a gold medal, however finally fell to Akhmed Tazhudinov—is initially from Dagestan however now representing Bahrain—within the semifinals at 97kg. Regardless of Snyder’s greatest efforts, he couldn’t produce sufficient offense and suffered a second straight loss to Tazhudinov after the 21-year-old phenom beat him 11-0 on the 2023 World Championships.
With Snyder’s loss, the U.S. males’s freestyle workforce goes house with out a gold medal for the primary time since 1968.
The 56-year run for the American workforce ends after many argued that the U.S. was sending its strongest workforce to the Olympics with a number of world champions and top-ranked athletes competing in 2024.
Sadly, the U.S. contingent struggled from the beginning with Mason Parris falling within the qualification spherical at 125kg after he took a roster spot as soon as held by 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, who left the game to signal with WWE earlier than turning to soccer the place he at the moment performs for the Buffalo Payments.
Three-time NCAA champion and World champion Zain Retherford was shut out 8-0 by Iranian Rahman Amouzad within the opening spherical, ending Retherford’s likelihood for gold.
Former Iowa standout Spencer Lee had the very best shot on the Olympics after he made the finals at 57kg however fell to Rei Higuchi from Japan. Lee nonetheless goes house with a silver medal in his first Olympics.
Aaron Brooks additionally suffered a surprising upset loss to Magomed Ramazanov from Bulgaria in his semifinal matchup at 86kg after making the Olympic workforce by beating 2020 gold medalist David Taylor. Whereas Ramazanov went onto seize gold by defeating Iranian legend Hassan Yazdani, Brooks bounced again with a bronze medal win.
Kyle Dake, who has received 4 World Championships, was one of many heaviest favorites going into the Paris video games, however he fell quick in a wild match in opposition to Daichi Takatani from Japan through a 20-12 rating. A scoring controversy in his bronze medal match had Dake shouting on the judges earlier than he angrily returned to the mat the place he tossed Hetik Cabolov from Serbia over his head to attain 5 factors to assist safe the victory.
Dake leaves with a second bronze medal. At 33, this might doubtlessly function his last Olympics.
Whereas Snyder and Retherford nonetheless have an opportunity to win bronze, there have been extraordinarily excessive hopes that the American workforce may doubtlessly convey house a number of gold medals after a robust exhibiting through the 2020 video games. The US led all nations with 9 complete medal wins together with gold medal victories for Taylor and Steveson.
5 of the six workforce members are nonetheless vying for medals, however these will not be the outcomes the U.S. squad anticipated heading into the 2024 Olympics.
