Two matches wrestled, two matches won by Spencer Lee at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Lee advanced to the semifinals after winning his first two matches early on Thursday morning (in the United States, at least -- the matches happened around mid-day in Paris), making an impressive debut in his first-ever Olympics.
Lee's tournament began with a first round match against 6-seed Wanhao Zou of China. It was a match that looked tricky on paper, given that Lee had only defeated Zou 10-9 when they had faced off earlier this year at the World Olympic Qualifier tournament in Turkey. And this match proved to be another close and cagey encounter.
After a few scoreless minutes dominated by hand fighting, Lee finally got to Zou's legs near the edge of the mat and finished the shot for a takedown to go up 2-0. He wasn't able to get to any par terre offense on the mat (leg laces, gut wrenches), but did get a step-out point against Zou to go up 3-0. Lee stayed on the attack (and almost had Zou cradled), but wasn't able to add to his lead before the break.
Lee led 3-0 at the break and held that lead for most of the second half of the match. He was the aggressor throughout the match, but Zou was able to defend Lee's shots effectively and keep him at bay. Zou finally got a more active near the end of the match and picked up a pair of step-out points against Lee. That was too little, too late, though, and Lee came away with a 3-2 victory in his first Olympic bout.
In the quarterfinals, Lee faced unseeded Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan. Almaz Uulu upset 3-seed Meirambek Kartbay of Kazakhstan in the opening round. While Lee's first match was a nervy affair that went to the final whistle, this match looked much more like vintage Spencer Lee: high-tempo action, lots of scoring, and a quick finish.
Almaz Uulu struck first, getting to Lee's legs on a counter-attack to go up 2-0 a few seconds into the match. That was as good as it got for Almaz Uulu, though; Lee went back on the attack immediately after the restart and got a fast double-leg takedown of his own, followed by a leg lace for two more points to go up 4-2.
Lee took Almaz Uulu down again moments later with a single-leg attack, adding another leg lace turn for two more points as well to go up 8-2 in the match. Then Lee finished the match with a go-behind takedown and a quick gut wrench on the mat. That made the score 12-2, ending the match and giving Lee a win by technical superiority in just over two minutes of total action.
Those two wins advance Lee to the semifinals, where he will face 7-seed Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan. Abdullaev defeated Aliabbas Rzazade of Azerbaijan in the first round (11-4) and upset 2-seed Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia in the quarterfinals (12-5). Abdullaev placed 7th at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, losing 11-1 to Thomas Gilman in the repechage rounds. He also placed 7th at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
Abdullaev actually has some experience wrestling in the United States, as well -- he won an NAIA national championship for Menlo College at 133 lbs in 2023. He and Lee share a little tournament history as well -- Lee won gold at 50 KG at the 2016 World Junior Championships, while Abdullaev earned bronze at 55 KG at that same tournament.
The semifinal round is scheduled to begin around 11:15 AM CT. The action will be streamed on Peacock.
