Kenichiro Fumita Lands Gold in Greco-Roman Wrestling

Japan's Kenichiro Fumita won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman wrestling men's 60-kilogram weight class with a dominant 4-1 victory over China's Liguo Cao in the final on Tuesday, August 6 at Champ-de-Mars Arena.

Fumita, who took the silver in the same weight class at the Tokyo 2020 Games, moved up a step on the podium with his performance in the final. The 28-year-old Fumita had a 3-0 lead after rolling Cao in the first period and added another point in the second frame to clinch the win.

With his triumph in Paris, Fumita became the first Japanese to take Olympic gold in Greco-Roman wrestling since Atsuji Miyahara won in the 52-kg class at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

A native of Yamanashi Prefecture, Fumita is also a two-time world champion (once at 59 kg, once at 60 kg).

"It was a long journey," Fumita was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "I struggled a lot to get here. Even if I won at the world championships, I didn't feel like I reached the top. Winning at the Olympics must be the top of everything."

Ozaki Claims Bronze in Women's Freestyle Wrestling

In other wrestling action, Nonoka Ozaki downed Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu 3-0 to capture the bronze in the women's freestyle 68-kg category.

"I'm relieved that I was able to change my mindset after my loss in the quarterfinals and win the third-place match," Ozaki was quoted as saying by NHK.

"I was able to show my courage and my never-give-up attitude to the people who cheered me on by rising to the top after hiting rock bottom. Although I only got a bronze medal, I was able to show a good performance to my mother and friends who came to support me."

Also Tuesday, Yui Susaki, the gold medalist in the women's freestyle 50-kg class in Tokyo, lost in the first round to India's Vinesh Phogat 3-2 in a huge upset.

Susaki, a 25-year-old from Chiba Prefecture, had a 2-0 advantage going into the final seconds of the match before getting slammed to the mat by Phogat for a takedown.

"I couldn't do what I wanted to do," Susaki remarked after the loss. 

She added, "I just don't know what went wrong."

After the shock first-round loss, Susaki was to face Ukraine's Oksana Livach in the repechage round, with the winner advancing to one of the two bronze-medal matches on Wednesday.

RELATED:

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• WRESTLING | Kenichiro Fumita Clinches Silver, Hiroe Minagawa Misses Out on Medal

Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.