Tokyo 2020 champ David Taylor falls to Abdulrashid Sadulaev in opening round
With Sadulaev making the final, Taylor moves into the repechage for a chance at a bronze medal.
Wrestling
American David Taylor got off to a losing start Wednesday (30 October) at the World Wrestling Championships 2024 in Tirana, Albania.
The Tokyo 2020 gold medallist at 86kg fell to two-time Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev, 7-0, in the qualification round of the freestyle 92kg competition.
He still has a potential pathway to the podium, however, but had to rely on other results going his way.
With Sadulaev making it all the way to the final, the American has been called up to compete in the repechage round. From there, he has a chance at the bronze medal.
Ahead of the World Championships, Taylor told Olympics.com he was looking forward to a match-up with Sadulaev.
“I've been in a lot of big matches in my life and wrestled all the legends in our sport. And he's just the one guy I hadn't got to. So I really want to make it happen," he told us. "We’ve been considered two of two of the best in the world for a while but there’s been that weight class separation and other things. It’s a pretty crazy series of events that have led to us both being in this weight category for this event, a very low statistical probability."
Sadulaev followed up his opening-round win over Taylor with a 3-1 victory against Abubakr Abakarov. He advanced to the final after defeating Kamran Ghasempour, 5-3.
The 2024 World Championships only feature wrestlers who didn't compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.