Kennedy Blades Advances to the Olympic Finals

On Saturday, the final group of wrestlers took the mat and the United States came away with another finalist. No, it wasn’t the two-time Hodge Trophy winner from Penn State or the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, but was the 20-year-old making her Olympic debut. Kennedy Blades was the talk of the morning session with her big double legs and her five-point reenactment of the USA Wrestling logo with her Round of 16 suplex. 

The big moves, excitement, and wins did not stop in the morning as Blades added another win in the semifinals and will wrestle for a gold medal tomorrow against Japan’s Yuka Kagami. 

The big stage wasn’t too big for Blades as she faced the top seed, Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy, a returning world silver medalist in the semifinals. The official put Blades on the shot clock first and that action appeared to be a wake-up call for Blades, who unleashed a huge double leg out of bounds for two points. 

Medet Kyzy took the lead later in the first period as she went for an upper body throw and Blades bailed at the edge of that surrendering two points, rather than more or perhaps a fall. Near the end of the period, Blades retook the lead with a single leg she ran out of bounds for a push-out point. 

The second period featured a scramble near the edge of the mat which broke in Blades’ favor for a 5-2 lead. The Kyrgyzstani corner challenged, and lost, extending the lead to 6-2. 

Not content, Blades fired off another double leg off the whistle for an 8-2 lead. Medet Kyzy, undeterred by the sudden six-point deficit, grabbed a takedown and transitioned into a gut wrench making the match tight again at 8-6. 

A key sequence in the final minute saw Medet Kyzy pressuring Blades, which the American used to throw her by. Although Blades didn’t actually score from the hold, it burned a significant amount of time and made her look active to the official. 

The final seconds ticked off the clock and Blades’ long-time coach Izzy Martinez could be seen celebrating in her corner, as one of his prized pupils had made the Olympic finals at only 20 years old.