After winning bronze medals at both the U20 and U23 World Championships in 2026, American wrestler Morgan Turner had her eyes on making a strong impression in her first Senior World Championships appearance. She began her campaign at the World Championships in Astana on a positive note, defeating Cuba’s Greili Bencosme 5-0 in her opening match before facing Russia’s Elizaveta Smirnova. However, what began as an opportunity to test herself against an established world medalist took an unexpected turn, ending in a disqualification that cut short Turner’s senior world campaign.

The incident took place on October 27 during the women’s 50 kg round-of-16 bout. Smirnova, the returning 2025 world bronze medalist, had taken control of the match and built an 8-3 lead. Turner then launched a comeback, using a counter lift and an arm-bar action to expose Smirnova’s back and reduce the deficit to a single point.

After the wrestlers returned to a standing position, Turner made contact with Smirnova’s eye for a second time. Smirnova immediately dropped to the mat in pain, prompting the officials to stop the action. The incident followed an earlier eye poke during the same bout, and Turner was disqualified for the repeated contact. The referee awarded the victory to Smirnova.

Despite being declared the winner, Smirnova was unable to continue in the competition. Following a medical examination, the tournament doctors ruled her unfit to compete in the quarterfinals because of the injury to her eye.

“Smirnova was diagnosed with a corneal injury. Doctors decided to withdraw her from the competition. She was taken to the hospital. The treatment plan will be determined later. Of course, as a fighter, she’ll say, ‘I don’t feel any pain.’ But in reality, she has a very serious injury. She was ready to compete, but they didn’t allow it,” Russian women’s team physician Gayane Gevorgyan said, according to reports from the Russian Wrestling Federation.

Smirnova also expressed her frustration over being unable to continue. “I’m feeling fine now, but I’m very upset. I felt like I should have won the gold medal, but I got poked in the eye. The examination revealed a torn mucous membrane and scratches on the retinas of both eyes. The American poked me first in the right eye, then in the left. The doctors said nothing needed stitches. And I think I could have wrestled. If they’d bandaged it, I could have wrestled with one eye. But the official competition doctor didn’t allow me to compete because he’s afraid of complications,” Smirnova said.

The Russian wrestler’s withdrawal had an immediate effect on the women’s 50 kg bracket. India’s Neelam Sirohi advanced to the semifinals without wrestling her scheduled quarterfinal bout after Smirnova was ruled out of the competition. The development gave Sirohi a walkover into the next round, while Smirnova’s hopes of adding another world medal to her record ended despite being awarded the victory over Turner.

However, the incident was only one part of a difficult day for the American women’s team, as several other wrestlers also saw their medal hopes threatened by heartbreaking defeats.

Tough day for American women as medal hopes take a hit

Helen Maroulis, the defending world champion in the 57 kg category, began her campaign with an 11-0 technical superiority victory over Canada’s Mia Friesen. However, her run came to a halt in the quarterfinals, where she lost 4-2 to Japan’s Sena Nagamoto after holding a late lead. Maroulis needed Nagamoto to reach the final to secure a repechage opportunity and remain in contention for a medal.

Dymond Guilford also experienced a painful setback in the women’s 76 kg division. After winning her first two matches, including a convincing 12-2 victory over Nigeria’s Damola Ojo, Guilford appeared close to reaching the semifinals. She held a 4-1 lead over Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva with only seconds remaining, but her opponent mounted a late comeback to claim a 6-4 victory. The defeat left Guilford needing Alpyeyeva to reach the final to have a chance of returning to the competition through repechage.

Meanwhile, Kayla Miracle’s campaign in the women’s 65 kg category ended in the round of 16. After opening with a victory by pin over Türkiye’s Ayse Erkan, Miracle faced Japan’s Nana Ikehata, who pinned the American wrestler to secure her place in the next round. Ikehata subsequently lost in the quarterfinals, ending Miracle’s hopes of advancing through repechage.

These setbacks came alongside Turner’s disqualification following the eye-poke incident involving Russia’s Elizaveta Smirnova. While Turner’s bout ended in unusual circumstances, Maroulis and Guilford suffered narrow defeats after holding late leads, and Miracle was eliminated after a pin. Together, these results made for a difficult day for the American women’s team, with several medal contenders seeing their campaigns cut short