United States women’s freestyle wrestler, Kennedy Blades, turned in one of the most dominant performances you’ll see out of the 2024 Olympics on Saturday in Paris, France, when she landed a massive suplex to cap a shutout over Romania’s Catalina Axente.
While the combat sports world witnessed controversial women’s boxer Imane Khelif win gold on Friday, the action quickly turned from the ring to the mat on Saturday for women’s freestyle wrestling. This included the Olympic debut of Blades, who is a 20-year-old wrestler from Chicago, Illinois, and one of the biggest bright spots for women’s wrestling.
Blades absolutely dominated Axente from start to finish, ending her efforts with a ridiculous suplex that left her Romanian opponent badly hurt on the canvas. While Blades celebrated in victory Olympic officials rushed to Axente’s aid and ended up carrying her off on a stretcher. It’s a rare scene in the Olympics, especially when it comes to women’s freestyle wrestling.
Check out the footage below:
Kennedy Blades serving breakfast. pic.twitter.com/mrjwSRzMiN
— The Wrestling Room (Pat Mineo) (@MrPatMineo) August 10, 2024
#Paris2024 Terrible caída de la rumana Axente, que abandona la competición en camilla.
Los servicios médicos tuvieron que colocar un collarín a la luchadora, que se hizo daño en el cuello tras un movimiento de la rival en su duelo de octavos.pic.twitter.com/jtNTJJrqIZ
— MARCA (@marca) August 10, 2024
| USA’s Kennedy Blades hits a MASSIVE SUPLEX on Romania’s Catalina Axente to advance to 76kg quarter finals in women’s freestyle wrestling, and Axente has to be carried off in a stretcher. ??? #2024ParisOlympics
Kennedy tech’d her opponent 11-0, and proceeded to win her… pic.twitter.com/lCbeuQPR5Z
— Parry Punch (@ParryPunchNews) August 10, 2024
Kennedy, who defeated 2020 Olympic medalist Adeline Gray at the U.S. Olympic trials, went on to defeat Cuba’s Milaimys Marin 4-3 in the quarterfinals. The young star will now gear up for a semi-final showdown with Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy, who Blades holds a head-to-head win over from a Ranking Series tournament in 2023.