Kenichiro Fumita and Nao Kusaka won gold medals in Greco-Roman style, while Rei Higuchi and Kotaro Kiyooka were the best in freestyle. Akari Fujinami, Tsugumi Sakurai, Sakura Motoki and Yuka Kagami brought home four more gold medals in women's wrestling. Fumita and Higuchi won their second Olympic medals. Fumita was runner-up at Tokyo 2020, while Higuchi had a silver medal from Rio 2016. For the other six, it was their first Olympic Games and their first Olympic medals.

Japan also had a big failure in women's wrestling. Their most decorated wrestler and undefeated in international tournaments, Yus Susaki, lost in the first round to India's Vinesh Phogat and only won a bronze medal.

Vinesh herself reached the final but failed to make weight before the final bout and was disqualified from the tournament. Devastated, Vinesh announced her career end after the tournament.

Fifth gold for Mijain Lopez

Cuban legend Mijain Lopez returned to the mat for the last time to cement his legendary status. In the absence of Riza Kayalp and Sergey Semenov, there was no one to challenge him, although even if they had come to Paris, it is doubtful that they could have stopped him from taking gold. Lopez dominated every fight in Paris, even against the reigning world champion, the Iranian Amin Mirzazadeh. 

Lopez announced his retirement immediately after the final fight, leaving his shoes on the mat, and in Los Angeles in 2028 the super heavyweight division will have a new champion after 20 years of Lopez's dominance.

Armenia complains about poor officiating

Armenia had three representatives in Greco-Ronan wrestling and two of them, Artur Aleksanyan and Malkhas Amoyan, returned home with medals. The other, Slavik Galstyan, was close to reaching the final.

Galstyan even appeared to win his semi-final bout against eventual champion Saeid Esmaeili of Iran with a touch, but the judges overturned their decision as Galstyan had stepped off the mat before the action. On the same day, Rio 2016 champion Aleksanyan lost to Iran's Mohammed Saravi in the final bout. With the score at 1-1 and the Iranian winning on criteria, Saravi took Aleksanyan to the parterre, but before he could do so, he stepped out with his two legs to reach Aleksanyan's back and score two more points.

Now Armenian officials and Aleksanyan, who removed his silver medal during the award ceremony, are blaming the referees for the loss. Armenia have appealed to the UWW and the IOC and are hoping for some positive results, but the UWW has already rejected the appeal, while the IOC has yet to consider it. The Armenian side believes that Aleksanyan should have been awarded the victory. 

Tazhudinov new king of the -97kg category

For almost 8 years Abdulrashid Sadullaev has dominated the -97kg category in freestyle wrestling. He won a gold medal in Rio 2016, then moved to the heavier weight category and has won every single match in this category since 2018. At the 2023 World Championships, Sadullaev lost to Akhmed Tazhudinov, a Russian wrestler representing Bahrain. Although Sadullaev was injured at the World Championships, Tazhudinov established himself as a threat to Sadullaev at Paris 2024. 

A healthy Sadullaev vs. Tazhudinov could be the highlight of the tournament, but Sadullaev didn't receive an invitation from the IOC to compete as a neutral athlete. Tazhudinov shone in Paris and proved that he can be the new king of the division.

Petriashvili finally wins gold medal

On his third attempt, Georgian freestyle wrestler Geno Petriashvili finally won a gold medal. He was third in Rio, second in Tokyo and now first in Paris. To win the gold medal he had to face 2023 World Champion Amir Zare of Iran. Zare beat Petriashvili in the final of the World Championships. 

However, it was Petriashvili who took the final step towards Olympic gold. He took revenge by celebrating in front of the Iranian, just as Zare did in front of Petriashvili a year ago in Belgrade. The Georgian now has the full set of Olympic medals.

Former Russians dominate freestyle wrestling

Three gold and four bronze medals were won by Russian-born freestyle wrestlers at Paris 2024. In the absence of the Russian national team, wrestlers who had previously represented Russia won seven medals. Razambek Zhamalov won gold for Uzbekistan, Magomed Ramazanov for Bulgaria and Akhmed Tazhudinov for Bahrain. 

Islam Dudaev and Chermen Valiev did their job well for Albania, winning two bronze medals. Azerbaijan's Magomedkhan Magomedov and Greece's Dauren Kurugliev also won bronze medals. If this trend continues, there is a chance that Los Angeles 2028 will see an all-Russian podium with different flags.