Paris Preview: Team USA's “last man in” Kamal Bey ready for opportunity at hand

The 77 kg bracket will be one to watch, with a mix of young and experienced athletes battling for gold. The top seed is Nao Kusaka of Japan, a 2023 World bronze medalist. He is one of the younger competitors in the field with just four appearances at age-group tournaments and one appearance on the Senior level in 2023.

On the same side of the bracket as Kusaka are No. 4 seed Malkhas Amoyan of Armenia, No. 5 seed Yosvanys Pena Flores of Cuba and No. 8 seed Aram Vardanyan of Uzbekistan. Amoyan is a three-time World medalist. Pena Flores is one of three athletes with past Olympic experience, having competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Vardanyan brings experience from five World tournaments to the field.

Sanan Suleymanov of Azerbaijan, the returning World silver medalist, is seeded No. 2. Suleymanov has collected two World medals in four appearances. He also holds experience from six age group World Championships.

 In Suleymanov’s half-bracket is reigning World Champion Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan, who holds the No. 3 seed. Makhmudov’s dominant performance in Belgrade marked him as a serious threat for gold. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, Makhmudov returned to Kyrgyzstan with a silver medal.

Demeu Zhadrayev of Kazakhstan, an Asian Olympic Qualifier finalist, is seeded No. 6. Zhadrayev enters with Olympic experience from Tokyo, plus a World silver medal from 2017.

Zoltan Levai of Hungary, who secured his spot through the World Olympic Games Qualifier, is seeded No. 7. Levai is one of the more experienced athletes in the field with14 age-group World tournaments and a World runner-up finish under his belt.

For the United States, Kamal Bey will be making his first Olympic appearance. Bey, a three-time Senior World Team member, had success at the U20 level, winning a World title in 2017. Bey is coming off a gold medal finish at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, last November, and earned a spot in Paris following a fourth-place finish at the World Olympic Games Qualifier after quotas were reallocated.

Rounding out an exciting field of competitors are Abd Elkrim Ouakali of Algeria, Aik Mnatsakanian of Bulgaria, Jair Cuero Muñoz of Colombia, Mahmoud Abdelrahman of Egypt, Jonni Sarkkinen of Finland, Amin Kaviyaninejad of Iran and Burhan Akbudak of Turkey.

77 kg GR Seeded Wrestlers

No. 1 Nao KUSAKA (JPN)

No. 2 Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)

No. 3 Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)

No. 4 Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

No. 5 Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB)

No. 6 Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)

No. 7 Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)

No. 8 Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

77 kg GR Olympians (to be drawn in)

Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG)

Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)

Jair CUERO MUNOZ (COL)

Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN (EGY)

Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)

Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)

Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)

Kamal BEY (USA)

(Local Paris time, six hours ahead of U.S. time zone)

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

11:00 a.m. - Repechage Men’s Greco Roman 60-130 kg and Women’s Freestyle 68 kg

11:30 a.m. - Round of 16 and Quarterfinals - Men’s Greco-Roman 77-97 kg and Women’s Freestyle 50 kg.

6:15 p.m. - Semifinals - Men’s Greco-Roman 77-97 kg and Women’s Freestyle 50 kg

7:15 p.m. - Medal Rounds in Men’s Greco Roman 60-130 kg and Women’s Freestyle 68 kg

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

11:00 a.m. – Repechage Men’s Greco Roman 77-97 kg and Women’s Freestyle 50 kg

11:30 a.m. - Round of 16 and Quarterfinals - Men’s Greco-Roman 67-87 kg and Women’s Freestyle 53 kg

6:15 p.m. - Semifinals - Men’s Greco-Roman 67-87 kg and Women’s Freestyle 53 kg7:15 p.m. - Medal Rounds in Men’s Greco-Roman 77-97 kg and Women’s Freestyle 50 kg