From the Last Chance Qualifier to the Olympic Medal Stand

As we watched Spencer Lee’s run to the Olympic finals on Thursday, while simultaneously being stunned by Magomed Ramazanov’s last-second stunner over Aaron Brooks, Willie Saylor noted how both came through the Last Chance Qualifier. Maybe an article about medalists, who came used their final opportunity to qualify and took advantage with a medal, might be a good idea for an article (They call him the brain for a reason). 

As the tournament progressed, I kept an eye out for any others who would fit this category or those who have already done so. 

All in all, eight medalists traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, and wrestled with their backs against the wall and then turned around and medaled in Paris. Ramazanov was the only champion and Lee was the only silver medalist; however, six others took home bronze. 

Interestingly enough, no one from the women’s freestyle tournament fit this criteria. Six of the medalists came from men’s freestyle and two from Greco-Roman. Even more rare, is that one of these wrestlers was given his Olympic quota because of the Russian withdrawal from the wrestling portion of the Games. 

Here’s a bit about why these wrestlers needed to qualify, their Last Chance tournament, and their path to the medal stand in Paris. 

57 kg Men’s Freestyle - Spencer Lee: USA (silver)

This is probably the most obvious example to the people reading this article. You know how the story goes - Zane Richards was our representative at 57 kgs at the 2023 World Championships and did not medal or qualify the weight. Since Richards wasn’t challenged to wrestle-off, he went to the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier and suffered a semifinal loss on criteria to Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz.

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