Snyder Fends Off Yoshida for 97kg Repeat, Fifth World Championships Gold

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (October 30) -- Kyle SNYDER (USA) ran the arduous gauntlet that was the Freestyle 97kg weight category at the World Championships, fending off a fierce challenge from rising star Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) with a dramatic 4-4 victory in the final on Friday for his second straight gold and fifth overall.

Snyder scored the second of two second-period takedowns with 18 seconds left to snatch the victory from the young Japanese before a raucous crowd at Astana's Barys Arena and add to the golds he won in 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2025.

"I was up on my stance and it was not good for 5 minutes and 10 seconds," Snyder said. "They say you have to finish the race, once you have started it."

By making the final in one of the deepest weight classes ever seen at a World Championships, Snyder also raised his collection of world medals to nine overall—not to mention his 2016 Olympic gold and 2021 Olympic silver.

The victory was the 30-year-old Snyder’s second in three career meetings over two years against Yoshida. Snyder soundly defeated the 22-year-old Japanese in the semifinals at last year’s World Championships in Zagreb, where he took home a bronze medal.

Yoshida appeared to be on the road to revenge when he took a 4-0 lead into the final minute, scoring an activity point and two stepouts, often by outmaneuvering the veteran Snyder. Yoshida's fourth point came on an unsuccessful challenge by the U.S. to gain a stepout after a hardy exchange at the edge.

Snyder began his comeback with a single-leg trip that sent Yoshida sprawling to the mat and came dangerously close to being a 4-pointer. Still down by 2, Snyder used a snap down to spin behind and secure the winning points.

"It was shameful. I didn't do well finishing off my takedowns," a disappointed Yoshida said. "Everything is ruined by the final match.”

Heading into Astana, the 97kg class stood out for its incredible depth that included four current or past Olympic champions and a bevy of world champions and medalists.
Just to get to the final, Yoshida and Snyder both had to defeat Olympic champion rivals who had previously notched wins over them.

In Yoshida’s case, he scored a dramatic come-from-behind fall over Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), after first knocking off another former Olympic champion in Hassan YAZDANI (IRI). Snyder ousted longtime rival Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS).

Both Sadulaev and Yazdani ended up taking the bronze medals; ironically by the same 5-0 score. They posed together for photos afterwards.

Snyder's victory kept Yoshida, who was born and raised in Japan to an Iranian father and Japanese mother, from becoming Japan’s heaviest gold medal at a global championships.

That mark remains at 74kg -- achieved by Kota Takahashi (JPN) at last year’s World Championships and Jiichiro DATE (JPN) at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, both in Freestyle.

"I was up on my stance and it was not good for 5 minutes and 10 seconds," Snyder said. "They say you have to finish the race, once you have started it."

"It was shameful. I didn't do well finishing off my takedowns," a disappointed Yoshida said. "Everything is ruined by the final match.”

Both Sadulaev and Yazdani ended up taking the bronze medals; ironically by the same 5-0 score. They posed together for photos afterwards.

Snyder's victory kept Yoshida, who was born and raised in Japan to an Iranian father and Japanese mother, from becoming Japan’s heaviest gold medal at a global championships.

That mark remains at 74kg -- achieved by Kota Takahashi (JPN) at last year’s World Championships and Jiichiro DATE (JPN) at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, both in Freestyle.