Greco-Roman wrestler Kim Seung-jun lost in his repechage match at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, missing out on a chance to fight for a bronze medal in his Summer Games debut.
Kim lost to Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan 8-2 in the repechage contest in the men’s 97-kilogram Greco-Roman event at Champ-de-Mars Arena in the French capital.
With a win, Kim would have advanced to the bronze medal match against Gabriel Rosillo of Cuba.
On Tuesday, Kim had lost to Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia in the round of 16. And Kim ended up in the repechage round after Aleksanyan, the reigning silver medalist, reached the final.
But Kim couldn’t capitalize on his second chance, as Assakalov, the 40-year-old veteran who won the 2014 Asian Games gold medal in 추천 South Korea, enjoyed an easy win.
Kim and Lee Seung-chan, who also lost in the repechage round of the men’s 130kg Greco-Roman event, were the only two South Korean male wrestlers in Paris.
On the women’s side, Lee Hanbit will compete in the 62kg freestyle event Friday.
South Korea did not win a medal in wrestling at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the first time the country had been shut out in the sport since 1972.