Wrestling preview, Aug. 7: Sarah Hildebrandt fights for an upgrade, from bronze to gold

Sarah Hildebrandt holds up her Olympic bronze medal - Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Sarah Hildebrandt holds up her Olympic bronze medal – Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Aug. 7 Schedule

Here’s a look at what’s on tap for the third day of wrestling on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

All matches from both sessions can be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.

Session 1

Time: 5:00 a.m. ET

Round of 16/Quarterfinals

Women’s Freestyle 53kg
Greco-Roman 67kg
Greco-Roman 87kg

Repechage Rounds:

Women’s Freestyle 50kg
Greco-Roman 57kg
Greco-Roman 97kg

Session 2

Time: 12:15 p.m. ET

Semifinals

Women’s Freestyle 53kg
Greco-Roman 67kg
Greco-Roman 87kg

Gold/Bronze Medal Matches:

Women’s Freestyle 50kg
Greco-Roman 67kg
Greco-Roman 87kg

SEE MORE: How to watch wrestling at the Paris Olympics: TV and stream schedule

Wednesday’s medal events

Three wrestling medals of the Paris Games will be awarded, as the three weight classes that got underway on Tuesday will have their gold medal matches on Wednesday.

Women’s freestyle 50kg

Will Team USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt double down on compatriot Amit Elor‘s gold medal run with a second first-place finish at the Paris Olympics?

It’s certainly possible — though Indian opponent Vinesh Phogat owns two bronze World Wrestling Championship medals and has appeared in three Olympics, the 29-year-old has come away from the Games empty-handed … until now. Phogat upset Japan’s Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Yui Susaki in her opener, and while her two subsequent matches were close, she still managed to emerge victorious.

Men’s Greco-Roman 77kg

Japan’s finalist Nao Kusaka had a haul of almost exclusively bronze medals until this year’s Asian Championships, where the 23-year-old earned gold. He’ll look to repeat the feat over Kazakhstan’s 34-year-old Demeu Zhadrayev, whose biggest win was a silver medal at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in Paris. (Or maybe the City of Light just suits him?)

Men’s Greco-Roman 97kg

Armenia’s Artur Aleksanyan has placed on each podium position across the last three Olympics: bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 32-year-old, nicknamed “White Bear,” is guaranteed silver in Paris. To win gold, he’ll have to overwhelm Mohammad Savari of Iran — the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist who won titles at the 2022 Asian Games and 2023 Asian Championships.

SEE MORE: India’s Vinesh Phogat upset Olympic champion Yui Susaki

Getting underway

Meanwhile, three new weight classes get underway with the Round of 16 and quarterfinals in Session 1, followed by the semifinals in Session 2.

Women’s freestyle 53kg

Japan’s 20-year-old Akari Fujinama already has two 53kg world championship golds under her belt, plus two Asian Championships golds in the same weight class. Last summer, she defeated the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Mayu Sadochi (absent from Paris). Forced to withdraw from April’s Asian Games due to injury, it’s unclear whether she will be healthy enough to overcome competitors like China’s Pang Qianyu, who earned silver last Games.

The U.S. will field a world champion in California’s Dominique Parrish. Despite winning the world title in 2022, Parrish crashed out of the next year’s edition in the first round.

Greco-Roman 67kg

After Cuban Mijain Lopez‘s astonishing fifth consecutive gold medal on Tuesday, expect compatriot — and 2020 Tokyo Games 60kg gold medalist — Luis Alberto Orta to be fired up and primed to pin his opponents. Azerbaijan’s Hasrat Jafarov finished second to Orta at the 2023 Wrestling World Championships and could swap podium placements. Iran’s Saeid Esmaeili, replacing Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Mohammadreza Geraei, is also a strong medal contender.

Greco-Roman 87kg

Ukraine’s Zhan Beleniuk seeks his third Olympic medal, and second consecutive gold, at the 2024 Paris Olympics. After a 2023 World Championship bronze medal, he might have trouble with Turkiye’s Ali Cengiz or Hungary’s David Losonczi, both of whom are 2023 World Championship gold medalists due to a controversial referee decision that United World Wrestling retracted last November.

SEE MORE: Wrestling recap, Aug. 6: Team USA’s Hildebrandt to first Olympic final