Japan grappled an astonishing eight golds in wrestling at the 2024 Paris Olympics — and 11 total medals — out of the 18 events and weight classes contested this past fortnight. It was the country's best performance at a single Olympics, surpassing its five golds from Tokyo 1964 and Tokyo 2020, and the highest wrestling gold haul of any NOC since the Soviet Union at Seoul 1988.
In France, Team USA earned two wrestling golds — one less than Tokyo — while its total medal total dropped from nine to seven. Paris 2024 marked the first time the U.S. left a Games without a men's freestyle gold in 56 years, dating back to Mexico City 1968.
But the pair of American golds, won by 20-year-old Amit Elor in 68kg and 30-year-old Sarah Hildebrandt in 50kg, represent perhaps the country's most compelling Olympic wrestling storyline: The U.S. women's wrestling team continues to fire on all cylinders.
| Country | 🥇-🥈-🥉 | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 8 - 2 -1 | 11 |
| Iran | 2 - 4 - 2 | 8 |
| USA | 2 - 2 - 3 | 7 |
| Bulgaria | 2 - 0 - 0 | 2 |
Japan earns eight of the 18 contested golds
In the overall medal count, Japan placed third at these Games with 20 gold medals overall. A whopping eight of those came from wrestling.
| Name | Event |
|---|---|
| Rei Higuchi | Men's freestyle 57kg |
| Kotaro Kiyooka | Men's freestyle 65kg |
| Kenichiro Fumita | Greco-Roman 60kg |
| Nao Kusaka | Greco-Roman 77kg |
| Akari Fujinama | Women's freestyle 53kg |
| Tsugumi Sakurai | Women's freestyle 57kg |
| Sakura Motoki | Women's freestyle 62kg |
| Yuka Kagami | Women's freestyle 76kg |
To put that into perspective: Japanese athletes topped 44.44% of all contested wrestling events in Paris.
From Blades to Hildebrandt, Team USA's women shine
There were 18 wrestling events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Of those, 12 involved men competing against other men. Yet half of Japan's wrestling golds resulted from women topping the podium.
The United States reached four wrestling finals at these Games: women's 50kg, 68kg, 76kg, and men's 57kg.
California's Amir Elot won 68kg gold, the first contested final against Kyrgyzstan's Meerim Zhumanazarova, on Aug. 6. The following evening, Indiana's Sarah Hildebrandt defeated Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman to make the U.S. 2-for-2.
No two American women had won wrestling gold at a single Olympics before Paris.
Twenty-year-old Kennedy Blades of Illinois had the opportunity to extend that record to three golds — but lost a tight gold medal match, 3-1, for silver.
The fourth American woman to earn a wrestling medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics was none other than Helen Maroulis, who became the first-ever American to win a gold medal in women's freestyle wrestling at the Olympics at the Rio 2016 Games. She earned bronze in Paris competing in the 57kg weight class.
U.S. men leave Paris without freestyle or Greco-Roman gold
On the flip side of the coin, U.S. men failed to win an Olympic freestyle wrestling for the first time in more than half a century.
The closest to a gold run: Pennsylvania's 25-year-old Spencer Lee, who — like Blades — fell to a powerhouse Japanese wrestler, 28-year-old Rei Higuchi.
Legendary Lopez wins fifth gold, leaves shoes on the mat
Cuba's Mijain Lopez won his first Olympic gold in men's super heavyweight wrestling at Beijing 2008.
Mijain won the event at each Games since: London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024.
He's the only athlete to win five-straight golds in a single individual event.
After securing his latest Olympic medal, Mijain removed his shoes and left them on the Parisian mat, signifying retirement. They'll be impossible shoes to fill.