2024 Olympic Preview: 62 kg Women's Freestyle

It’s late July which means the 2024 Olympic Games are right around the corner. Over the next two weeks, InterMat will bring you individual weight class previews for each of the 18 weights contested at the Olympic Games. 

The 2024 version has already been slightly different from years past. Earlier in the summer, United World Wrestling announced a list of wrestlers from Belarus and Russia who would not be permitted to compete due to their support of the war with Ukraine. After this decision, Russia decided to withdraw all of its entries for wrestling. That led to replacements being named earlier this month. 

With all of the moving parts, and a field that wasn’t confirmed until later in the game, previewing the action had to take a back seat since we weren’t sure who would actually be in Paris. 

UWW has recently published entry lists for each of the three styles, so we are good to go. 

Our next weight class preview comes back to women’s freestyle at 62 kg. 

This weight class features Kayla Miracle as the representative for a second straight Olympics. The two-time Senior world medalist will be looking to medal at the Olympic Games for the first time. Miracle will have an experienced, familiar group of opponents to deal with including three-time world champion Ainsuluu Tynybekova, whom Miracle could see in the quarterfinals. 

Here's what could happen with the rest of the bracket:

62 kg entries

Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria)

Ana Godinez (Canada)

Ameline Douarre (France)

Luisa Niemesch (Germany)

Sakura Motoki (Japan)

Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan)

Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia)

Esther Kolawole (Nigeria)

Grace Bullen (Norway)

Hyon Gyong Mun (North Korea)

Kriszta Incze (Romania)

Johanna Lindborg (Sweden)

Siwar Bouseta (Tunisia)

Nesrin Bas (Turkiye)

Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine)

Kayla Miracle (USA)

Seeds

1. Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan)

2. Sakura Motoki (Japan)

3. Grace Bullen (Norway)

4. Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine)

5. Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria)

6. Luisa Niemesch (Germany)

7. Ana Godinez (Canada)

8. Kayla Miracle (USA)

Past Senior World/Olympic Medalists: (7)  Bullen (x2), Dudova (x2), Koliadenko (x3), Miracle (x2), Motoki (x2), Purevdorj, Tynybekova (x5)

2020(1) Olympic Medalists (62 kg)

Gold: Yukako Kawai (Japan)

Silver: Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan)

Bronze: Taybe Yusein (Bulgaria)

Bronze: Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine)

2023 World Medalists (62 kg)

Gold: Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan)

Silver: Sakura Motoki (Japan)

Bronze: Grace Bullen (Norway)

Bronze: Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine)

How They Qualified:

2023 World Championships: Bullen, Koliadenko, Motoki, Niemesch, Tynybekova

Asian Qualifier: Gyong Mun, Purevdorj

African/Oceania Qualifier: Bouseta, Kolawole

European Qualifier:  Dudova

Pan-American Qualifier: Godinez, Miracle

World OG Qualifier: Bas, Incze

Reallocated Quota: Douarre, Lindborg

Key Recent (ish) Matches between Qualifiers

2024 Hungarian Ranking Series semifinals: Godinez over Bullen  (11-7)

2024 Hungarian Ranking Series semifinals: Koliadenko over Purevdorj  (6-4)

2024 Hungarian Ranking Series quarterfinals: Bullen over Dudova  (8-2)

2024 Hungarian Ranking Series quarterfinals: Purevdorj over Miracle  (14-10)

2024 Hungarian Ranking Series Round of 16: Dudova over Niemesh  (2-1)

2024 Last Chance World OG Qualifier quarterfinals: Bas over Lindborg  (4-4)

2024 Last Chance World OG Qualifier Round of 32: Bas over Douarre  (6-1)

2024 Asian Championship finals: Tynybekova over Motoki  (9-6)

2024 European Olympic Qualifier semifinals: Dudova over Douarre  (3-0)

2024 European Championship finals: Bullen over Niemesch  (5-4)

2024 European Championship semifinals: Niemesch over Lindborg  (4-2)

2024 European Championship quarterfinals: Lindborg over Dudova  (3-2)

2024 Pan-American Championship finals: Miracle over Godinez  (6-6)

2024 Zagreb Open finals: Tynybekova over Miracle  (7-0)

2024 Zagreb Open semifinals: Tynybekova over Motoki  (3-3)

2024 Zagreb Open semifinals: Miracle over Godinez  (4-2)

2024 Zagreb Open quarterfinals: Motoki over Koliadenko  (5-2)

2024 Zagreb Open quarterfinals: Godinez over Dudova  (8-3)

2024 Zagreb Open Round of 16: Dudova over Lindborg  (6-4)

2024 Zagreb Open Round of 32: Koliadenko over Niemesch  (2-0)

2023 World Championship Olympic Wrestle-Off: Niemesch over Dudova  (3-2)

2023 World Championship finals: Tynybekova over Motoki  (4-1)

2023 World Championship bronze medal match: Bullen over Dudova  (3-0)

2023 World Championship bronze medal match: Koliadenko over Niemesch  (10-0)

2023 World Championship semifinals: Tynybekova over Niemesch  (4-2)

2023 World Championship semifinals: Motoki over Bullen  (2-1)

2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Tynybekova over Koliadenko  (2-2)

2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Bullen over Incze  (10-0)

2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Niemesch over Purevdorj  (4-3)

2023 World Championship Round of 16: Motoki over Dudova  (4-0)

2023 World Championship Round of 16: Bullen over Kolawole  (Fall 4:34)

2023 World Championship Round of 16: Purevdorj over Godinez  (13-6)

2023 World Championship Round of 16: Incze over Miracle  (6-3)

2023 Hungarian Ranking Series finals: Tynybekova over Dudova  (2-1)

2023 Hungarian Ranking Series Round of 32: Tynybekova over Niemesch  (2-0)

2023 Asian Championship finals: Tynybekova over Purevdorj  (9-5)

2023 European Championship finals: Koliadenko over Bullen  (Fall)

2023 European Championship semifinals: Bullen over Dudova  (7-6)

The American Entry: Kayla Miracle

It’ll be a second consecutive trip to the Olympic Games for Kayla Miracle at 62 kg. Miracle was not able to return from Tokyo with any hardware; however, later that year, she did earn her first Senior World medal. A year later, Miracle replicated that feat by making the 2022 World Finals. 

Last year, Miracle was not able to get on the medal stand in Belgrade so she needed to head to the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier to ensure the US had representation at 62 kg at these Olympic Games. Miracle had little difficulty in doing so with a fall and a 3-0 victory in the deciding match. 

To lock up her second Olympic berth, Miracle needed to go through a familiar foe. By virtue of her wins at the Pan-Am Qualifier, Miracle was able to sit in the finals and wait for an opponent to emerge from the challenge tournament. That opponent ended up being Macey Kilty - the same wrestler that Miracle beat to make the 2020 team. In 2020, Kilty pushed Miracle to three matches before having to default with an injury. That wasn’t the case in 2024, as Miracle cruised to a pair of three-point wins as she swept the series. 

Miracle has earned the eighth seed in Paris. That means with an opening round win, she faces the returning World champion and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Ainsuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. The two most recently squared off in the finals of the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event and Miracle lost 7-0. There’s a lot of familiarity between the two, so don’t be surprised to see Miracle close the gap and potentially pull an upset. 

The X-Factor: Hyon Gyong Mun (North Korea)

This is an X factor if there ever was one. North Korean wrestlers haven’t competed very often over the past Olympic cycle and Hyon Gyong Mun is no different. After the World Championships last year, Gyong Mun entered the Asian Games and defeated two-time world champion Nonoka Ozaki (Japan) 6-6 on criteria. Ozaki is the same opponent who defeated Miracle in the 2022 world finals. Before her bout with Gyong Mun, Ozaki had defeated Tynybekova in the Asian Games semifinals. 

Gyong Mun was out of action until the Asian Olympic Qualifier where she posted a fall and a 6-0 shutout to lock up a trip to Paris. 

The Olympic Games marks the first Senior World or Olympic event that Gyong Mun has ever entered. Prior to her re-emergence at the 2023 Asian Games, Gyong Mun’s last major international tournament was in 2019 - a fifth-place finish at the Asian Championships. 

Gyong Mun’s lack of history means she’ll come into the tournament without a seed. That could make for a rough draft for a seeded wrestler. Really, I don’t know what to expect from her, but a win over Ozaki means she should be a potential gold medal threat. 

The Bracket: Out of any of the brackets we’ve previewed thus far, this one might be the most fair and balanced. The top four seeds are the four world medalists from 2023, in order. Additionally, you have a two-time world medalist assuming the fifth seed and Miracle at the number eight. 

The only past world medalist that is unseeded is Purevdorj. That isn’t as significant as other weights as her world title came in 2017 and she hasn’t been on the podium since. Her recent results don’t necessarily warrant a top-eight seed or it shouldn’t be labeled a glaring omission. 

Of course, we mentioned above that Gyong Mun could be a wild card and will make whichever side of the bracket she’s inserted tougher. 

Analysis: The favorite is Tynybekova the 2020 Olympic silver medalist and three-time world champion. She has the top seed and rightfully so. While Tynybekova has history and a strong resume, she isn’t immune to an occasional hiccup and does wrestle lots of close matches. In a talented field like this, one mistake in one of the close matches could cost her. 

There’s a path to the finals for Tynybekova that could include wins over past world finalists in the quarters and semis. 

Should Tynybekova stumble, Motoki could be the one who takes advantage. She lost to Tynybekova in the 2023 World finals and later at the 2024 Zagreb Open and the Asian Championships. The Zagreb match ended on criteria, so Motoki is right on her heels. 

This weight is unique because six of the seven returning world medalists are all of the multi-time variety. The only one who isn’t is Purevdorj - who is a world champion. Now, each of the world medalists at this weight has made at least one final. 

What that means is we have women with tons of experience and high credentials battling in a bracket that is not necessarily wide-open, but winnable for a handful of them on their best days.