TOKYO – Danielle Lappage lost her opening round matchup 0-7 to Khanum Velieva of the Russian Olympic Committee and was eliminated from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“For the first time in a long time I felt really excited and really grateful to be here,” said Lappage. “I was really confident, I had a good feeling, and I just thought it would have ended differently.”

Lappage battled for control throughout the match but couldn’t score on the Russian wrestler.

“She was very strong, had very good positioning, I knew I had to open her up and take her down. I got behind early and I couldn’t find a good takedown.”

Velievea went on to lose to Battsetseg Soronzonbold of Mongolia in the quarterfinal, eliminating Lappage from the tournament.

At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Lappage was injured in warmup on the day of her first match. She wrestled, but the injury proved to be too much, and she was eliminated in her opening round bout.

“I am very proud that I overcame a lot in the last five years and made it back here.”

“I hope everybody knows that I did do my best, that was 100% of my effort, but it just wasn’t good enough today. I tried to make them proud out there, but that was all I had to give today.”

Canada returns to the mats in Tokyo on August 5, where Amar Dhesi will compete at 125 kg.