The 2024 Olympic Games: By the Numbers

The 2024 Olympics wrapped up this past Sunday. Across all three styles, Team USA is bringing home two gold medals and seven total medals. There were several highs and some lows. The following takes a look back at the team’s performance from a statistical perspective. Match Points by Style Team USA finished with two gold medals and four overall medals in women’s freestyle, which was the best haul for the team across all three styles. The team collectively scored 124 points, while only allowing their opponents to score 58. Of the 124 points scored by the team, 68 kg gold medalist Amit Elor was the biggest individual contributor with 31 points scored. Of the 124 points scored by the women’s freestyle team, 77 came via takedowns with another 26 coming off exposures. Defensively, the team was particularly strong in terms of par terre defense. Of the 58 points allowed, only eight came via exposures. The vast majority of points scored against the women’s freestyle team came via takedowns (42). In terms of offense, the men’s freestyle team was not far behind scoring 121 points in the tournament. Of those 121 points, 71 were scored via takedowns with another 32 coming off exposures. However, the squad was not able to match the women’s team from a defensive standpoint. The team allowed 76 points, which was the most surrendered by Team USA across all three styles. 34 points against the men’s freestyle team were scored with takedowns and another 22 were added by exposures. Interestingly enough, the team also allowed 12 step-out points, which is usually a strong point for the squad. It was another disappointing tournament for Team USA in Greco. The American boys who do not grab legs, lost all five of their matches and were outscored 36 to seven. The squad did not score a takedown or a turn across those five matches. The seven points scored consisted of three passive calls, two step-outs, and one two-point caution. Defensively, the Greco team allowed 16 points on turns and another 10 points via takedowns. Most Match Points Kyle Dake almost certainly would have preferred to come home with a gold medal, but he can likely take solace in his bronze medal-winning performance and the fact that he was the highest-scoring wrestler for Team USA. After blitzing his first two opponents, Anthony Montero (Venezuela) and Younes Emami (Iran), by a combined score of 21 to 1 Dake came up short against Daichi Takatani (Japan) in the semifinals. Even in the defeat, his offensive ability was still on display as he put 12 points on the board. In the bronze medal match, Dake trailed by a 4-1 score but exploded for nine points in the final seconds for the medal-winning victory. His 43 points scored across four matches was the most for Team USA across all three styles. Spencer Lee, who won silver at 57 kg, and women’s freestyle gold medalist Amit Elor (68 kg) both finished with 31 points, which was the second most scored. Head-to-head against unofficial champions With many Russian athletes banned from competing in the Olympics, many expected the U.S. to step forward and have a historic event. In the end, one team did have an unusually strong performance, but it was not Team USA. Japan has dominated women’s wrestling for decades, but this year their men’s freestyle team also contributed two golds and a silver while the Greco team also added two golds. All told, Japan finished with 11 medals, which was the most of any country. Japan, as a country, only won 45 medals across all sports, which means the wrestling squad was responsible for nearly 25% of the medals won by the country. At the 2024 Olympics, Team USA came head-to-head against Japan in six matches, and Japan prevailed in five of those contests. The only member of the team who bested a Japanese opponent was Aaron Brooks, who scored an 11-1 victory over Hayato Ishiguro in the quarterfinals at 86 kg. Across those six matches, Team USA was outscored 44 to 30. Removing Brooks’ one victory and the edge for Japan increases to 43 to 19. Medal performance by Games This was the first Olympic Games since 1968 where the U.S. participated and failed to secure a gold medal in men’s freestyle. While that fact he has been getting a lot of attention and headlines, it might not be the best way to evaluate the performance of the team. Despite the lack of gold, the men’s freestyle team still medaled in half of the available weight classes. Since the introduction of women’s wrestling in 2004, the men’s freestyle team has only beaten that percentage twice, in 2012 and the 2020 Games. The advent of the double bronze has made it seemingly easier to bring home a medal, but the number of available weights has also declined.

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The 2024 Olympic Games: By the Numbers

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