Mayu Mukaida snatched the third gold medal for Japanese female wrestlers at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, downing China's Pang Qianyu 5-4 in the 53-kilogram final.

The 24-year-old Mukaida, the world silver medalist in the category in 2017 and 2019, followed sisters Yukako and Risako Kawai, who claimed golds at 62 kg and 57 kg, respectively, earlier this week at Makuhari Messe Hall.

Japan's Mayu Mukaida (blue) and China's Pang Qianyu compete in the women's 53-kilogram freestyle wrestling final at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 6, 2021, at Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba near Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The weight category is the same in which Saori Yoshida lost against American Helen Maroulis at the 2016 Rio Games after achieving a streak of 16 consecutive Olympic and world titles.

But Mukaida, who like Yoshida is a native of Mie Prefecture in western Japan, responded brilliantly to expectations to regain Japan's supremacy in the "post-Yoshida" era. She is the first Olympic gold medalist to emerge from the Japanese Olympic Committee's Elite Academy where she trained as a youth in Tokyo.

In the final, Pang rattled the Japanese early, taking a 4-0 lead in the first period, but Mukaida was not to be denied as she clawed her way back by scoring four points with leg tackles to tie it in the second stanza and the decisive point with 15 seconds remaining.

"In the end, I was just praying, and kept this feeling that I would win no matter what," Mukaida said. "It was my goal to win this title so I am very happy," she said.

Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus and Mongolia's Bolortuya Bat Ochir won bronze medals at 53 kg.

On taking the baton from Yoshida in the women's 53 kg category, Mukaida said, "Saori-san won many times, so we can't be compared at the same level, but I gave it my very best, thinking I'd win the gold because that is why I was chosen to compete here."

Mukaida's coach, Shota Shidochi, who is also her fiance, supported her throughout some hard times, she said.

"I think he had a rougher time than me a lot of the times," Mukaida said.

At 50 kg, Yui Susaki, one of Japan's flagbearers at the Tokyo Games, blazed her way through the competition, with consecutive 10-0 fall victories in her first two bouts before an 11-0 rout of Azerbaijan's Mariya Stadnik, the two-time Olympic silver medalist at 48 kg, to reach Saturday's final.

Susaki, the 2018 world champion, will meet China's Sun Yanan, who rallied in a thrilling win as the clock ticked down to beat American Sarah Hildebrandt 10-7 in the other semifinal.

In men's freestyle, 21-year-old American Gable Dan Steveson raised the roof with a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the 125-kg final over Georgian Geno Petriashvili, a three-time world champion and bronze medalist at the Rio Games.

Steveson, named after 1972 American Olympic wrestling champion Dan Gable, overcame an 8-7 deficit after he had taken an early 4-0 lead in the first period, scoring three technical points with just six seconds remaining to take the gold in a 10-8 victory. The bronze medals went to Iran's Amir Hossein Zare and Taha Akgul of Turkey.

"You saw that? Oh my god. Wow, no way, ain't no way," said Steveson about turning the bout around with just six seconds. It was the United States' third wrestling gold medal of these games. "I'm speechless. I've never done it before. But today was the day. Damn."

At 74 kg, Russian Zaurbek Sidakov, the 2019 world champion, stunned Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau of Belarus 7-0 to win the gold medal. American Kyle Dake grabbed a bronze medal, as did Uzbekistan's Bekzod Abdurakhmonov.

Zaurbek Sidakov of the Russian Olympic Committee and Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau of Belarus compete in the men's 74-kilogram freestyle wrestling final at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 6, 2021, at Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba, near Tokyo. Sidakov won gold. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Earlier, Japan's Takuto Otoguro booked a spot in Saturday's 65-kg final, winning his three bouts of the day, the 2018 world champion edging past Russian Gadzhimurad Rashidov 3-2 in the semifinal.

In Saturday's final, Otoguro, whose older brother Keisuke was eliminated at 74 kg on Thursday, will face Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan, a 57-kg freestyle bronze medalist at the Rio Games.

At 97 kg, Russian Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Kyle Snyder of the United States will meet in Saturday's final.