Ukrainian Wrestler Iryna Koliadenko Claims Silver Medal at 2024 Paris Olympics

Ukrainian wrestler Iryna Koliadenko has claimed a silver medal in women’s freestyle wrestling at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, achieving the highest result for Ukrainian female wrestlers at the Games since 2004.

On the first day of competition, Koliadenko, the current bronze medalist, secured three consecutive victories, advancing to the final for the first time in her career. The most notable victory came in the semifinals, where she avenged her loss from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by defeating the top-seeded wrestler from Kyrgyzstan, Aisuluu Tynybekova, with a score of 9-2.

In the final match, Koliadenko faced Japanese wrestler Sakura Motoki, the second seed in the tournament. Motoki, the reigning world silver medalist, won three matches by fall on the first day of the competition, including a decisive 11-0 victory over Canadian Ana Godinez.

The final bout began with Koliadenko taking the lead after Motoki was penalized for passivity. However, Motoki quickly gained control and ended the first period ahead 6-1. Following a successful challenge by the Ukrainian team on two of Motoki’s points, the score at the break was 4-1 in favor of the Japanese wrestler. In the second period, Motoki extended her lead to 12-1, resulting in a technical fall and a silver medal for Koliadenko.

This silver medal is the third wrestling medal for the Ukrainian team at the 2024 Olympics, following Parviz Nasibov’s silver and Zhan Beleniuk’s bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling. Kolyadenko’s achievement is the best result for Ukrainian female wrestlers in Olympic history since 2004, when Iryna Merleni won gold in the 48 kg category.

Koliadenko’s silver is Ukraine’s 12th medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, advancing Ukraine to the 20th place in the medal table.