Tayla Ford (Tainui) has “acquitted herself well” while making history as the first New Zealand woman to wrestle at the Olympics.
The two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medalist was in action in the women’s freestyle 68kg competition at Champ de Mars Arena in Paris this week.
A New Zealand Team report said Ford, 31, performed admirably against third-seed Koumba Larroque, 26, of France in her historic debut Olympic appearance on Tuesday (NZT).
Despite losing 6-0 VPO (by under 9 points where the losing wrestler does not score), the New Zealand Team said it was not all one-way traffic, with Ford’s strength keeping her in the contest.
In the end, the French woman’s extreme quickness and superior technique were the difference, it said.
Larroque took the first round 4 points to 0 and claimed victory in the second round, outscoring Ford by 2 points to 0 to eliminate the Kiwi from the competition.
Watch highlights of Tayla Ford in action against France’s Koumba Larroque at Paris 2024.
The gold medal was won by Amit Elor of the United States, with Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova claiming the silver medal, and the bronze medals going to Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Turkey and Japan’s Ozaki Nonoka.
Ford spoke to Olympics.com about the moment it was first announced she would make New Zealand Olympic history.
“It kept coming out with ‘making history’, ‘being the first female’; I was just like, ‘Oh my God’. This wasn’t my intention.
“In my head, I was like, yeah, I was quite successful in sport in my teens, and then in my 20s I was successful.
“So I knew 30s, being the last stretch of my wrestling career, I knew that I was going to be just as successful, if not better than before.
“But to be as successful already so early in my 30s, I was just like, ‘Oh my God.’”
Ford, who was born in Nelson and raised in Christchurch, lives in Adelaide.
She has been competing internationally since she was 16 years old and won her Commonwealth Games medals at Glasgow 2014 and Birmingham 2022.
