Kennedy Blades Earns Silver Medal at 2024 Olympics

Kennedy Blades is returning to Iowa City with a medal after making her Olympic debut in Paris, even if that medal isn't the color that she was hoping to claim after advancing to Sunday morning's gold medal match against 2-seed Yuka Kagami of Japan. Kagami edged Blades 3-1 on a takedown in the second period to claim the gold medal at 76 KG.

Blades made the gold medal match after storming through her bracket on Saturday, defeating her opponents by a combined score of 23-9 and displaying a high-powered offensive arsenal in her matches. Unfortunately, her attack was blunted in the final by Kagami, who used her strength, expert positioning and mat awareness to keep Blades at bay. As was the case for Spencer Lee in his gold medal defeat to Japan's Rei Higuchi, Blades struggled to get any clean attacks on Kagami and had immense difficulty getting to her opponent's legs.

The first period began with both wrestlers taking a cautious approach; each wrestler attempting a half-shot but little else. Blades was warned for passivity and put on the activity clock halfway through the period; that ticking clock didn't incite much additional action from Blades, which led to a point for Kagami and a 1-0 lead.

Blades did explode for one of her better attacks of the match shortly after the clock expired, getting Kagami near the edge of the mat and forcing her out for a step-out point. That made the bout 1-1, though Blades had the advantage on tiebreaker criteria, having scored the most recent point.

The second period started similarly to the first, though Kagami broke through with a forceful attack that drove Blades off the mat. The move was initially scored as a step-out, but then changed to a takedown, which gave Kagami a 3-1 lead.

The rest of the match featured Kagami defending, with Blades unable to use her length and quickness to get to Kagami's legs. Blades came up short in the end, with Kagawa securing a 3-1 victory and the gold medal.

The gold medal victory for Kagami capped off what was an incredibly successful year for Japan in wrestling at the Olympics. As noted by Flowrestling's Andy Hamitlon above, the Japanese team sent 13 wrestlers to the Olympics in Paris -- and 11 of them are coming home with medals. An incredible eight of those medals were gold, including a stunning four golds at the six women's freestyle weights. The Japanese team was truly the gold standard at the Olympics this year (pun respectfully intended).

Blades' victory also capped off a very successful Olympic performance by the United States women in freestyle wrestling. The U.S. women earned four medals at the six freestyle weights, highlighted by golds from 20-year old Amit Elor at 68 KG and from Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 KG. Blades added silver at 76 KG and United States legend Helen Maroulis also won a bronze medal at 57 KG.

Blades becomes the 12th Hawkeye wrestler -- and the very first Hawkeye women's wrestler -- to earn a medal at the Olympics. She joins some legendary company:

1960: Terry McCann (gold)
1984: Ed Banach (gold)
1984: Lou Banach (gold)
1984: Randy Lewis (gold)
1984: Barry Davis (silver)
1992: Chris Campbell (bronze)
1996: Tom Brands (gold)
2000: Terry Brands (bronze)
2000: Lincoln McIlravy (bronze)
2020: Thomas Gilman (bronze)
2024: Spencer Lee (silver)
2024: Kennedy Blades (silver)

While the end result was disappointing, it's hard to see Blades' overall tournament -- and her entire Olympic journey this year, going back to defeating United States legend Adeline Gray at the Olympic Team Trials in April -- as anything but a big success. The 20-year old Blades made her first Olympic team and advanced to the gold medal match in impressive fashion, dispatching the 1, 4, and 5-seeds in the bracket on her way there.

The gold medal loss stung, but it can also provide a useful learning experience as Blades continues to grow and develop as a wrestler. The future looks very, very bright for her -- and for the Iowa women's wrestling program, which will reap the benefit of having Blades in the lineup this season. Adding an Olympic silver medalist to a program that already won a national championship in its first year of existence will only make the Iowa program even more formidable.