denger

So what if Lee is disappointed in himself? Why is that a problem for us? I'm glad his sister took his medal for the time being. It will be a pivotal moment in his career. I hope he turns it into something positive with some perspective. I doubt that will ever include him believing that his performance in that match was acceptable, but I hope he learns something more productive than the simplicity of his word, "effort". It's not as if he didn't get after it in that match, Higuchi just won. It's a different simple reality... I think @Spladle08 observation that he put a lot of effort into a pushout rather than a takedown is agreeable enough - I think that show's us where Lee's head is at the time of his interview, which is just about strategy on the particular level. Reflecting on the bigger picture will teach him other things that we might never know. He doesn't owe us anything. If he wants to capitalize on this experience by sharing that with us, he will. I mean, if he decides to give his sister the $50K from the Living The Dream Fund, I'll get on board with him overreacting. In the mean time, I'm happy to leave him alone and let him process what it took to get here. There are countless incentives for him to do more than sulk about it, so I doubt that'll be what we fans are discussing in the coming years. He wouldn't be Spencer Freakin Lee if thought losing was acceptable. There's a lot he can do with that.

If he stays healthy! Plenty of depth, and some young guys are promising.

Now I see that Higuchi is wearing red...

Is my feed delayed?

This is most brilliant reply I've seen all week!

Aman is relentless...

Let's Go Cruz!

Bullen got a little too confident there - The only person who needed a high stakes position was Motoki!

HOLY MOTOKI

Bummer for Miracle.

I think JB makes light of many unfortunate/troubling situations with a little chuckle. His comment on Lopez' opponent during their final on Tuesday was something like, "this guy made you leave your home...", with a little snicker in there. I don't interpret that he's delighting in it, just naming a tough thing and how hard that must be. He's a great voice to have there - I appreciate it, at least.

That probably is the playback time. In the last few days on the same schedule, the last Gold Medal match has been wrapped up by about 4:00. Lee's will be the first Gold Medal match today, which has been landing about 1-1:30 Eastern.

I thought it was a takedown, but I'm often confused by the scoring in those situations. 99% of my experience was folk style, and it was all 20+ years ago. I glitch out when back points are awarded before a takedown - Not so much when it's a defensive exposure, but when the person who initiates action gets two for exposure enroute to ending up on top and in control. Please forgive my ignorance.

Ugh. Gotta agree with @Crotalus that it's feet to back. I thought "amplitude" was ditched in the rule changes many years ago in favor of the more objective qualifier of feet-to-back. The other angle that they showed in the review from the opposite side looked a little more convincing on exposure than one from the back. I understand why their review didn't produce definitive evidence that it was the wrong call. What bugs me now is that Miracle's last takedown looked as much like she exposed her opponent as this one did...but they couldn't review it.

....And, it definitely looked like Kayla was up for challenging it - she affirmed it. I'll take that compared to situations where a coach appears to make an executive decision that ends up questionable.

I can't disagree. Would've been a different strategy from Tynybekova if the score were changed. The only point I'll make is that Kayla brought her A-Game today. The regrettable part is that they should have trusted her abilities to win that match rather than mistrusting the refs.

I love that Takatani's finish is the only thing that rivaled this! Two total bangers coming vs Japan this afternoon!

Yes, but at 5-3 a pushout and a takedown wins. Less than 90 seconds against a very seasoned, savvy and dangerous opponent... The gut-punch-regrettable part is that Miracle did get a pushout and managed to force a takedown - a risky one, not one that Tynybokova simply conceded. Kayla wrestled incredibly well against that opponent. Challenging was the wrong decision.

He's the 9th match of a session that begins at 12:15, and it all happens on one mat. Two semifinals for each of the three weights that started today, then the two bronze matches in his weight. 1:00 should be a safe bet. Mostly depends on techs and challenges. Fortunately, Dake is leading off the session, so NBC can only slow it down a little to tell the story of Benjamin Button.

It looked she confirmed with her coach, "why not?". Like you said before, she should've known that, and known the risk.

I wondered if they were challenging whether it was a 4pt move. The video certainly looked like it went past 90 on exposure - thought maybe they were looking for 2 + 2 so a takedown would win. Just wasn't worth the risk.

Dunno why Miracle challenged that. Now it's two takedowns to win *Edit: and it proved to be too much...Got herself a pushout and a slick desperation takedown, still loses 6-6

HIs first takedown looked like that. Not his first 90 seconds, but the first one he scored. For a moment I thought he had settled down and was on it.

It'll be right about this time tomorrow.

Helen was up 2-0 early after her usual inside trip. From a similar position as both wrestlers worked to control signature arm ties, Japan scored 4 at the end of the period, then added a takedown + leg lace. Japan was up 10-2 by the last 30 seconds. Helen got a late takedown, but wasn't in position to score a bunch of exposure. Big bummer. Lee won by tech, twice in about two minutes. Looked incredibly strong and comfortable.