WRESTLING: Clarissa Chun delivers to capture bronze medal at Olympic Games
Craig Sesker |
(719) 598-8181 ext. 642 |
August 08, 2012 1:37 PM |
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LONDON – Clarissa Chun ran around the mat, holding the U.S. flag over her head with a huge smile on her face.
The sellout crowd of 6,500 fans stood and cheered.
She didn’t win the gold medal she planning on winning here at the 2012 Olympic Games.
But the bronze medal she captured on the sport’s biggest stage still provided a special moment for the 30-year-old from Hawaii.
Chun knocked off 2004 Olympic gold medalist Irini Merleni of Ukraine
1-0, 3-0 to capture a bronze medal in women's freestyle wrestling on
Wednesday night at the ExCel North Arena 2.
"This time, I learned from Beijing that I didn’t get in the emotional
roller coaster ride," said Chun, who placed fifth in the 2008 Olympics.
"I just stayed calm, cool and collected for the opportunity. I’m just so
grateful for every opportunity I have to step on the mat.
"It’s not the color I imagined, but I’m happy. Gold is what I strive
for, but I’m happy with the bronze. For me, it was about finishing
strong. That’s the difference I made from Beijing when I lost in the
semis. I was a nervous wreck after I lost in 2008."
Chun's bronze-medal win gives the U.S. its first wrestling medal of this
Olympics at the halfway point of the eight-day competition.
Four years after nearly making the finals of the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing, China, Chun came back strong to earn a spot on the medal podium
at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Chun fired in for a clutch double-leg takedown on Merleni and finished
with just three seconds left to take the first period 1-0 at 48 kg/105.5
lbs. Chun, a 2008 World champion, then delivered with a huge
three-point arm throw late in the second period en route to earning the
bronze.
Chun avenged a loss to Merleni from the bronze-medal match at the 2008 Olympics. Chun placed fifth in that event.
"Clarissa's gone through a lot of tough times," U.S. Coach Terry Steiner
said. "To hold things together and believe she could do it here is
really impressive. She's just an unbelievable athlete and a super human
being on top of that. I'm so happy for her."
Chun qualified for the bronze-medal match by launching World bronze
medalist Iwona Matkowska of Poland to her back and recording a dramatic
second-period fall in the repechage. Chun dropped the first period after
Matkowska finished in the leg clinch, but Chun came back aggressively
in the second period to prevail.
Chun opened with a 5-0, 1-0 victory over two-time World bronze medalist
Shasha Zhou of China at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. Chun spun behind Zhou for a
takedown before adding a pair of two-point gut wrenches in the first
period. Chun won a ball draw after a scoreless second period and
finished in the leg clinch to prevail.
Chun ran into 2009 World champion Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan in the
second round. The powerful Stadnyk took control early to earn a 2-0, 3-0
victory over Chun, a 2008 World champion. Chun received a chance to
wrestle back after Stadnyk advanced to the finals.
Chun beat an Olympic champion and two World bronze medalists on Wednesday.
American Elena Pirozhkova dropped her first match in three periods to
2012 European runner-up Anastasija Grigorjeva of Latvia. Pirozhkova won
the first period 2-0 on a pair of takedowns before the Latvian prevailed
5-0, 2-0 in the final two periods at 63 kg/138.75 lbs.
“She definitely had a good strategy,” Pirozhkova said. “She kept
pressuring me and trying to wear me out. I felt pretty confident going
into the match. I had studied her and had a good game plan. But it was a
higher pace than I expected. I couldn’t sustain the match pace. I have a
lot more conditioning I need to work on.”
Pirozhkova was eliminated when Grigorjeva fell short of reaching the finals.
“We didn’t find a way to slow her down and raise our level up,” U.S.
Assistant Coach Vladislav Izboinikov said. “We just got exposed out
there. We have to be able to wrestle at a higher pace and get in the
fight. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that today.”
Day 5 of the eight-day Olympic wrestling tournament is scheduled for
Thursday at the ExCel Center. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
(8 a.m. Eastern Time) in London. Fans can watch a live webcast of the
event on nbcolympics.com.
Americans Kelsey Campbell (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) and Ali
Bernard (New Ulm, Minn./Gator WC) are scheduled to compete on Thursday.
Campbell competes at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Bernard wrestles at 72 kg/158.5
lbs.
Campbell placed fifth in the 2010 World Championships at 59 kg/130 lbs.
Bernard placed third in the 2011 Worlds and fifth in the 2008 Olympic
Games.
OLYMPIC GAMES
ExCel Center, London, England
Wednesday’s medal winners
48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Gold – Hitomi Sakamoto Obara (Japan)
Silver – Maria Stadnyk (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Clarissa Chun (USA)
Bronze – Carol Huynh (Canada)
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Gold – Kaori Icho (Japan)
Silver – Rui Xue Jing (China)
Bronze – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia)
Bronze – Lyubov Volossova (Russia)
Finals matchups
48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Hitomi Sakamoto Obara (Japan) dec. Maria Stadnyk (Azerbaijan), 0-4, 1-0, 2-0
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Kaori Icho (Japan) dec. Rui Xue Jing (China), 3-0, 2-0
U.S. results
48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Clarissa Chun, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) – 3rd
WIN Shasha Zhou (China), 5-0, 1-0
LOSS Maria Stadnyk (Azerbaijan), 0-2, 0-3
WIN Iwona Matkowska (Poland), 0-1, fall 0:36
WIN Irini Merleni (Ukraine), 1-0, 3-0
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC)
LOSS Anastasija Grigorjeva (Latvia), 2-0, 0-5, 0-2