Nico Hernandez may not be leaving Rio with Olympic gold, but he will be standing on that medal podium as the US’s first light flyweight medalist in nearly 30 years. With his Friday loss to Hassanboy Dusmatov (UZB), Hernandez will medal bronze alongside Joahnys Argilagos of Cuba.
Hernandez has enjoyed an unexpected run to the semifinals, following his unexpected defeat of the top seeded Vasilii Egorov (RUS).
The light fly final, on Sunday, will face Columbia’s Y. Martinez against Dusmatov for Olympic gold. Hernandez has no more matchups, but he will join the two on the podium later in the day to be awarded bronze.
In a more upsetting defeat, USA’s Carlos Balderas was defeated by Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez, a 2012 bronze medalist in London. Because of his loss in the quarterfinals, Balderas will not be going home with a medal in the lightweight division.