Spencer Lee upset with late takedown for silver in 57kg freestyle wrestling final at 2024 Paris Olympics

Spencer Lee was hoping to finally climb atop the Olympic mountain with a Gold Medal at 57 KG in freestyle wrestling in Paris, but he ended up falling just short in the end.

The former Iowa Hawkeyes star was defeated by Japan’s Rei Higuchi via a score of 4-2 in an intense bout. Still, Olympic silver is nothing to scoff at, and part of achieving a lifelong dream in the process for Lee.

After taking the lead 2-0, a wild scramble ended up with Higuchi gaining a takedown against his opponent to tie the bout at 2-2, which in turn gave him criteria. After numerous attempts to capture the match-winning point from Lee, Higuchi was able to withstand, and eventually counter Lee’s last-second throw into a takedown for the 4-2 victory.

Representing the US for the first time at this stage, Lee was a monster through the bracket, and now, he’ll take home a prestigious honor back to Iowa, but he’ll certainly feel like he missed an opportunity to finish one spot better.

Moreover, Lee opened up his Olympic run with a 3-2 win of Wanhao Zou (China) but turned it up in the quarterfinals. After falling behind 2-0, Lee won with a 12-2 technical superiority over Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan).

In the semifinals, Lee kept the train rolling with a 14-4 technical superiority win over Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan).

Plagued by injuries throughout his wrestling career, Lee finally put it all together on the senior level freestyle circuit and won the trials this spring.  It was essentially the best Lee’s ever felt in his career.

“I feel good,” Lee said, via The Gazette, prior to the Olympics. “I’m ready to go. We know what it takes to be at that level and I’ve got coaches who have been there and know what it takes to train and prepare the best you can to be the best you can when you go out there.”

Sporting a 98-6 career record and three NCAA titles, Lee was one of the best wrestlers at the collegiate level in recent memory.

It seems like a lifetime ago that he fell short in the 2023 NCAA Championships as he gunned for a historic fourth NCAA title.

If you want to talk about challenges, Lee won the 57 KG spot for the US but the weight wasn’t qualified for Paris. That’s when he had to go to the Last Chance Qualifier in Turkey.

“I was happy I was able to do it,” Lee said. “Just because I wasn’t able to do it while I was in Mexico.

“For me, it was like now I get to prove myself that I should have done more to be on the national team the year before so that I could have made the opportunity myself. So, I kind of got to be able to take that back for myself.”

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this article.