Blades wins bronze bout as China takes two golds in Astana
Kennedy Blades closed with a pin, while Jia Long and Zelu Li won tight finals at the Senior World Championships.
Kennedy Blades turned a quarterfinal loss into a winning finish on day 6 of the 2026 Senior World Championships in Astana. The American pinned Mongolia's Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan in their women's freestyle 68kg bronze-medal bout, with the score at 10-3.
- Moe Kiyooka, Japan WW 53kg women's freestyle gold
- Jia Long, China WW 68kg women's freestyle gold
- Zelu LI, China WW 72kg women's freestyle gold
China wins the close finals
- 53kg: Japan's Moe Kiyooka took gold with a 6-0 decision over Ecuador's Lucia Yepez Guzman, who earned silver. Romania's Andreea Ana won bronze by beating Cristelle Rodriguez Dobler 3-6.
- 68kg: China's Jia Long edged Kyrgyzstan's Meerim Zhumanazarova 4-3 for gold, leaving Zhumanazarova with silver. Blades won her bronze-medal bout by fall over Enkhsaikhan.
- 72kg: China's Zelu Li beat Poland's Wiktoria Choluj 4-3 for gold. Choluj earned silver, while India's Tanu Sharma won bronze with a 5-9 victory over Precious Bell.
Americans reach the medal rounds
Blades' route included a pin over Germany's Laura Koehler with the score at 8-0 and a quarterfinal loss by fall to Zhumanazarova at 3-6. A 12-1 technical-superiority win over India's Srishti Srishti in repechage kept her medal opportunity alive.
Cristelle Rodriguez Dobler finished without a medal at 53kg. She earned 6-4 and 1-1 decisions before losing her semifinal to Yepez Guzman by technical superiority, 0-10, and her bronze bout to Ana, 3-6.
Precious Bell also fell short of a medal at 72kg after opening with 9-4 and 3-2 decisions. She lost by fall to Choluj in the semifinals with the score at 0-11, then dropped her bronze bout to Sharma, 5-9.
China leads, United States sits fourth
China leads women's freestyle with 115 points, ahead of Japan's 100 and Ukraine's 71. The United States sits fourth with 67, followed by India with 65.
Iran leads Greco-Roman with 192 points, followed by Azerbaijan with 104 and Uzbekistan with 80. Belarus and Kazakhstan each have 63, with Belarus fourth and Kazakhstan fifth.
Men's freestyle has no points separating the listed teams: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina and Armenia each stand at 0.