On 8 August, Novikov defeated Iranian wrestler Alireza Mohmadipiani 7-0 in the final of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Ironically, Mohamedpiani had defeated Beleniuk in the semi-finals a day before. Novikov won the first Olympic medal of his career and it was Bulgaria's first gold medal in Paris.

Beleniuk won the bronze medal, beating Poland's Arkadius Kulynycz. The second bronze medal went to Turpan Ali Bisultanov of Denmark.

Saeid Esmaeili kept Iran's Olympic gold medal in the -67kg category. His teammate and opponent Mohammad Reza Geraei won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, defeating Ukraine's Parviz Nasibov in the final.

Rezaei was the favourite to represent Iran at Paris 2024, but Esmaeili grabbed the Paris ticket at the last moment at the international tournament in Budapest, defeating Rezaei in a single match at the request of the national team's coaches. Ironically, Esmaeili faced Nasibov in the final at Paris 2024.

This time Nasibov was much closer to the gold medal. He was leading 5-0 after the first round. But Esmaeili scored 6 unanswered points to claim victory and the gold medal.

Hasrat Jafarov won Azerbaijan's only medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, defeating Kyrgyzstan's Amantur Ismailov in the bronze medal match. Luis Orta, the reigning world champion and Tokyo 2020 champion in the -60kg category, defeated Armenia's Slavik Galstyan in the second bronze medal bout.

Japan was one of the favourites for gold in the women's -53kg category and she proved her credentials by defeating Ecuador's Lucia Yepez Guzman 10-0 in the final. 

The bronze medals went to China's Qianyu Pang and North Korea's Hyo Gyong Choe.

Semifinals

The semi-finals of the men's freestyle wrestling in the first two weights were held before the finals. 

Rio 2016 silver medallist, reigning World runner-up and 2022 World champion Rei Higuchi (-57 kg) of Japan looked very comfortable on the mat and scored three wins by technical superiority. He defeated India's Aman Aman in the semi-final.

The final between Higuchi and USA's Spencer Lee promises to be a thriller. The American wrestler defeated Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan 14-4. Abdullaev had previously beaten four-time European champion Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia but was unable to withstand Lee's onslaught in the semi-final.

In the -86kg category, Aaron Brooks, who had beaten the best wrestler in the category for the last four years, David Taylor, at the USA National Trials, failed to reach the final in Paris. He lost to Magomed Ramazanov of Bulgaria in the semi-finals. Iran's Hasan Yazdani, Rio 2016 champion and Tokyo 2020 runner-up, who suffered a couple of heartbreaking defeats at the hands of Taylor, now has all the chances to win his second Olympic gold medal.

In the women's -57kg, two-time Olympic medallist and Rio 2016 champion Helen Maroulis lost to Japan's Tsugumi Sakurai in the semi-finals. Maroulis lost to another Japanese athlete at Tokyo 2020, Risako Kawai, and will again compete for the bronze medal.

She will meet Anastasia Nichita of Moldova in the final. Nichita was trailing 0-7 to China's Kexin Hong in the semi-finals, but came back to win with a "touche". Sakurai and Nichita met in the final of the 2023 World Championships and Sakurai came out on top. Nichita will be looking for revenge in Paris.