CHIBA, Japan (August 6) — Gable STEVESON (USA) worked his way onto the global stage with a name harkening back to a bygone legend in the sport. The 21-year-old certainly made a name for himself at the Tokyo Olympics.
Steveson pulled off the most unlikely of victories, scoring a takedown in literally the final second to stun three-time world champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the freestyle 125kg final on Friday night.
“I don’t know what I’m really feeling right now,” said Steveson. “It hasn’t hit, it hasn’t even soaked in. It is a crazy feeling that I’m sitting with a gold medal around my neck. This is something that will sit with me forever.”
In other finals, Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) gave Japan its third women’s gold at the Tokyo Olympics after also needing a comeback — albeit not as dramatic as Steveson’s — to capture the women’s 53kg title, while Zaurbek SIDAKOV (ROC) added the freestyle 74kg gold to the back-to-back world titles he won in 2018 and 2019.
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