Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤72 kg), Women

China’s defending champion, Wang Xu, was among the favorites, but injured her shoulder only three weeks before the Olympics, so she was replaced by World Junior Champion Wang Jiao. The favorite roles then fell to two-time defending World Champion, Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria, and Japan’s Kyoko Hamaguchi, a five-time World Champion and bronze medalist in this class at Athina. Wang Jiao and Hamaguchi met in the semi-finals, with Wang winning easily in two periods. She advanced to the final against Zlateva, where Wang won by a fall with only one second left in the first period. Hamaguchi came through the bronze medal tournament to earn a second Olympic bronze. Hamaguchi was trained by her father, Animal Hamaguchi, a professional wrestler in Japan.