PARIS — Chicago’s Kennedy Blades won a silver medal Sunday to end a remarkable Olympic debut.
Blades, 20, lost reigning world champion Yuka Kagami of Japan in the 76-Kilogram final.
Blades went 3-0 Saturday to reach the final, notching wins against three higher-seeded opponents.
In her first match on the Olympic mat, she executed a textbook suplex for five points and closed out an 11-0 technical fall, wrestling’s version of the slaughter rule. It was one of the best throws by any competitor — regardless of gender or weight class – in the tournament.
The daughter of a Chicago police sergeant and an Illinois Department of Corrections employee, Blades began wrestling when she was 7 years old and spent her early years competing primarily against boys. In 2016, Blades, then 12, became the first female competitor to win an Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation state title in a bracket dominated by male competitors.
Blades stunned the wrestling world in April when she upset six-time world champion Adeline Gray at the U.S. Olympic trials. After making the team, she returned to suburban Addison, where she continued to train with her longtime coach, Israel “Izzy” Martinez.