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CHIBA, Japan — American wrestler Adeline Gray fell 1 triumph abbreviated of the Olympic golden medal she sought for truthful long.
Germany’s Aline Rotter-Focken bushed her 7-3 Monday nighttime successful the 76-kilogram women’s freestyle wrestling final.
Gray is simply a five-time satellite champion, but she had ne'er claimed an Olympic medal. The Denver autochthonal and Bear Creek High alum finished a disappointing seventh astatine the Rio de Janiero Games successful 2016 portion warring done injuries that kept her retired of enactment for a year.
She bounced backmost to triumph 2 much satellite titles and gain the No. 1 effect astatine the Tokyo Olympics. She was assured she would articulation Helen Maroulis arsenic the lone 2 U.S. women’s wrestling Olympic golden medalists.
Even with the loss, Gray feels her bequest is secure. It was conscionable the sixth medal for a U.S. women’s wrestler.
“A metallic medal is not what I came for, but it’s what I have,” Gray said. “And I’m precise arrogant to bring location a medal from the Olympics for Team USA. I wanted it to beryllium a antithetic color, but I’m besides precise excited astir going backmost with immoderate hardware.”
Rotter-Focken, the No. 2 seed, was affectional aft the victory.
“It’s crazy, it’s unbelievable,” she said. “I dreamed astir it for galore years and I worked for this each day. It’s unreal close now. I deliberation I request a fewer years to admit this.”
Rotter-Focken scored an aboriginal constituent for Gray’s inactivity. She countered a changeable by Gray to spell up 3-0, past scored 4 points connected a propulsion to spell up 7-0.
The propulsion amazed Gray.
“I’m a big, beardown woman, and she enactment her hips into maine and squashed maine to the ground,” Gray said. “And she took vantage of immoderate magnitude that she has implicit me.”
Gray yet got connected the committee connected a step-out with conscionable implicit a infinitesimal to go. She scored 2 connected a takedown with astir 30 seconds remaining, but that was each she could manage.
She past watched her person observe and transportation the German flag. They some are 30 years aged and person competed since their teenage years.
“Aline is simply a friend, and I americium truthful arrogant that I got to spell retired connected the mat and vie with her,” Gray said. “I wanted to travel retired connected top, but she did this time. But I’m definite this volition conscionable beryllium a relationship that blossoms adjacent more. Maybe conscionable not until aft the satellite championships this year. So I anticipation to spot her there.”
China’s Qian Zhou and Turkey’s Yasemin Adar earned bronze medals.
Cuba’s Mijain Lopez became the archetypal antheral to triumph 4 Olympic golden medals successful wrestling erstwhile helium defeated Georgia’s Iakobi Kajaia 5-0 successful the Greco-Roman 130-kilogram final.
The 38-year-old was unscored upon successful his 4 matches. He joins Japan’s Kaori Icho arsenic the lone wrestlers to assertion 4 Olympic golds. Icho won freestyle golden medals successful 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Lopez won golden astatine 120 kg successful 2008 and 2012 and 130 kg successful 2016 earlier his triumph connected Monday.
Lopez defeated Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp 2-0 successful the semifinals connected Sunday successful a rematch of the 2016 golden medal match.
Kayaalp won bronze implicit Iran’s Amin Mirzazadeh 7-2. The Russian Olympic Committee’s Sergey Semenov won the different bronze, defeating Chile’s Yamani Acosta Fernandez.
In the different last Monday, Cuba’s Luis Orta Sanchez defeated Japan’s Kenichiro Fumita 5-1 successful the 60kg class. Fumita, trying to triumph successful his location country, was the No. 1 effect and a two-time satellite champion.
American Tamyra Mensah-Stock, the No. 1 effect successful the women’s 68kg freestyle class, volition wrestle for golden connected Tuesday. She was tied 4-all heading into the last 2 minutes of a semifinal against Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova connected Monday earlier taking power to triumph 10-4. Mensah-Stock volition look Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu successful the final.
In her opener connected Monday, Mensah-Stock faced Japan’s Sara Dosho, who won golden successful Rio astatine 69kg. Mensah-Stock dominated, winning by method superiority 10-0 astatine the 2:07 mark. In her quarterfinal against China’s Feng Zhao, she led 6-0 astatine the interruption and yet won 10-0 by method superiority astatine the 4:39 mark.
American Ildar Hafizov was trying to gain a spot successful the bronze medal lucifer successful the Greco-Roman 60kg category. He led No. 2 effect Sergey Emelin of the Russian Olympic Committee 1-0 aft the archetypal play but was overwhelmed successful the 2nd and mislaid 7-1. Emelin won a bronze medal.
In Greco-Roman 97kg, American G’Angelo Hancock bushed Mihail Kajaia of Serbia 5-1 successful his opener. In his quarterfinal against Poland’s Tadeusz Michalik, with the people tied astatine 1, Michalik got a constituent connected a step-out. The U.S. challenged and lost, giving Michalik different point. Michalik held connected and won 4-3.
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Follow Cliff Brunt connected Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP.
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