ISTANBUL, Turkey , May 10, 2024 — In one of the more remarkable days in recent U.S. Greco-Roman history, Kamal Beycatapulted himself through a gauntlet of desperate international foes to earn a bronze medal at the World Olympic Games qualifier.
Unfortunately, his inspirational run fell short in the Olympic qualification playoff, leaving Bey on the outside looking in for this summer’s 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Bey, who recently won the U.S. Olympic team trials at 77 kg, rallied from a tough day one at Istanbul’s Baakehir Gençlik ve Spor Tesisleri where he lost his only match 8-0 to neutral athlete Sergei Kutuzov of Russia. With Kutuzov making the finals and qualifying for the Olympics, Bey was presented a second chance to solidify himself as an Olympian.
The three-time U.S. Senior world team member from Oak Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, was defeated by 2022 World silver medalist and two-time European medalist Zoltan Levai of Hungary, 3-0, in the deciding Olympic qualification playoff, a special match held between the two bronze medal winners in each weight class.
Bey began the day with a 9-1 win by technical fall over Tsimur Berdyieu, an individual neutral athlete from Russia. Bey got an early takedown in the first 30 seconds of the match and finished off the match with a four-point move.
Bey advanced with a 7-1 win over Sweden’s Per Albin Olofsson, a U23 World medalist and a 5-4 win over Georgia’s Iuri Lomadze to win a bronze medal and a spot in the true third place match and a spot in the Olympics.
The U.S. will have Greco-Roman wrestlers in three of the six weight classes at the Olympics. Bey and two other Americans tried to secure a spot in the Olympic Greco-Roman tournament here in Turkey.
The U.S. has no women in the freestyle qualifier since the Americans have qualified all six weight classes. Two freestyle wrestlers, Zein Rutherford (65 kg) and Spencer Lee (57 kg), are trying to qualify for the Olympics in this tournament.
The U.S. audience can watch the event live on Flowrestling.com starting at 10 a.m. local time/3 a.m. (ET) each day. Brackets and real-time results will be available on UWW Arena.
2024 World Olympic Games Qualifier May 9-12, Istanbul, Turkey
U.S. Greco-Roman Results 60 kg – Dalton Roberts (Fountain, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), Eliminated
LOSS Viktor Petryk (Ukraine), 11-6
67 kg – Ellis Coleman (Fountain, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), Eliminated
WIN Aliaksandr Liavonchyk (Individual Neutral Athlete), 1-1
LOSS Andreas Vetsch (Switzerland), 8-1
77 kg – Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colorado/U.S. Army WCAP), Bronze Medal / True 4th
LOSS Sergei Kutuzov (Individual Neutral Athlete), tech. fall, 8-0
WIN Tsimur Berdyieu (Individual Neutral Athlete), tech. fall, 9-1
WIN Per Albin Olofsson (Sweden), 7-1
WIN Iuri Lomadze (Georgia), 5-4
LOSS Zoltan Levai (Hungary), 3-0
Event Schedule Saturday, May 11 10 a.m. (3 a.m., EST) – Repechage (WFS 50-53-57-62-68-76 kg), Preliminary rounds (MFS 57-65-74-86-97-125 kg)
4:45 p.m. (9:45 a.m., EST) – Bronze medal matches (WFS 50-53-57-62-68-76 kg)
6 p.m. (11 a.m., EST) – Semifinals (MFS 57-65-74-86-97-125 kg)
8:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m., EST) – True-bronze medal matches (WFS 50-53-57-62-68-76 kg)
Sunday, May 12 3 p.m. (8 a.m., EST) – Repechage (MFS 57-65-74-86-97-125 kg)
4:45 p.m. (9:45 a.m., EST) – Bronze medal matches (MFS 57-65-74-86-97-125 kg)
6 p.m. (11 a.m., EST)– True-bronze medal matches (MFS 57-65-74-86-97-125 kg) *All times listed are local to Istanbul, Turkey, which is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.
