Going into the final 2 days of competition in Tokyo, the women’s team race has come down to Japan and USA at the top. There’s only two weights remaining, but take a look below to see how the women’s team race looks up to this point. 

Japan Starting To Pull Away

Though USA had a lead the first few days of competition, Japan is now showing why they are the best in the world. At 57kg, Risako Kawai followed up her sister Yukako’s gold medal performance with a gold of her own. On top of that, Japan also saw their 53kg wrestler, Mayu Mukaida, make the finals. Japan has earned 70 total points between those three wrestlers.

USA is having trouble keeping pace with Japan at the lower weights but is still experiencing more success than any other country. Helen Maroulis made history with her bronze by becoming the first ever woman for Team USA to win 2 Olympic gold medals. Her points, along with those earned from Mensah-Stock and Gray, place USA firmly in second place.

Take a look at the current standings for the top 10:

There’s Still A Chance For USA...Barely

Japan has Mayu Mukaida in the finals and Yui Susaki still to wrestle her entire bracket. Susaki is the favorite to win 50kg and is a two-time world champion from 2017 and 2018. Though it may seem unlikely, USA needs Susaki to fail to place and Mukaida to lose in the finals. That would leave a slight opening for USA.

On top of a bad performance from Japan, USA needs Jacarra Winchester and Sarah Hildebrandt to deliver on the final days in Tokyo. Winchester has a chance to come back and wrestle for bronze but will need to win two matches in the next session. Hildebrandt, a world silver medalist, will need to make the finals to give USA a chance to catch Japan.