The U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team, which will compete August 5-11 at Champ de Mars Arena in Paris, France, includes full six-athlete teams in men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle, plus four Greco-Roman wrestlers. Team USA comes off a historic nine-medal performance at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The team is an exciting mix of experience and young talent. A pair of Olympic champions and two-time Olympic medalists are heading to a third Olympic Games—Helen Maroulis (WFS 57 kg) and Kyle Snyder (MFS 97 kg). Two other Olympic medalists are wrestling in their second Olympic Games—2020 Olympic bronze medalists Kyle Dake (MFS 74 kg) and Sarah Hildebrandt (WFS 50 kg). Also competing in a second Olympic Games will be Kayla Miracle (WFS 62 kg). There are 11 first-time Olympians on the U.S. wrestling squad.
Senior World champions who will compete in their first Olympic Games are two-time reigning World champion Amit Elor (WFS 68 kg), 2022 World champion Dominique Parrish (WFS 53 kg) and 2023 World champion Zain Retherford (MFS 65 kg). Retherford also owns a World silver medal. Other past Senior World medalists on the team include a pair of heavyweights who both starred at Michigan, 2018 World silver medalist Adam Coon (GR 130 kg) and 2023 World bronze medalist Mason Parris (MFS 125 kg).
Two-time Senior World Team member Joe Rau (GR 97 kg) is headed to Paris after coming up just short of qualification status for the previous two Olympics. Athletes who will be competing on their first U.S. Senior-level team are Kennedy Blades (WFS 76 kg), Spencer Lee (MFS 57 kg), Aaron Brooks (MFS 86 kg) and Payton Jacobson (87 kg).
Three-time Senior World Team member Kamal Bey (GR 77 kg) was a late addition to the Olympic field for Team USA following a redistribution of allocations. He earned his place in Paris by finishing in fourth place at the World Olympic Games Qualifier.
Lee, Brooks, Blades and Bey are past age-group World champions with proven track records of international success.
Athletes To Watch:
- Helen Maroulis was the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, doing so at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She made history for a second time by becoming the first U.S. woman to win two Olympic wrestling medals, adding a bronze medal to her resume at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She is back in Paris as the first female U.S. wrestler to compete in three Olympic Games and is looking to become the first to win two gold medals.
- Kyle Snyder is on pace to become one of the most credentialled wrestlers of all-time. He became the youngest U.S. wrestler to win the Olympics, doing so at the 2016 Rio Olympics at age 20. He followed with a silver medal outing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He is a three-time World champion and seven-time World medalist. Snyder is the most consistent performer on the World and Olympic stage in U.S. wrestling history. He has won a medal at the World Championships or Olympic Games every year since his Senior-level debut in 2015. A podium finish in Paris would give him 10-straight medal performances, extending his U.S. record of nine-straight medals.
- Sarah Hildebrandt has posted a remarkable international career with an Olympic bronze medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and four World Championships medals to her credit. The one thing eluding her is a gold medal. She has earned a medal at every World and Olympic tournament since Tokyo and has made two appearances in the World finals during her career. If she can solve the style puzzle presented by the Asian countries, specifically Japan and Mongolia, Hildebrandt will be well positioned to get her gold. Of note, Hildebrandt brought in her brother, Drew, who was a NCAA Div. I All-American wrestler competing at Central Michigan and Penn State, to be her primary training partner for the Olympics.
- Kyle Dake is a four-time World champion, five-time World medalist and earned bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He has been the standard bearer at 74 kg this Olympic quad. After winning back-to-back World titles in 2021 and 2022, Dake was defeated in the 2023 World finals by Tokyo Olympic champion and three-time World champion Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia. With Sidakov not participating in Paris, Dake is the odds-on-favorite in his weight class.
For inquiries: Gary Abbott - gabbott@usawrestling.org and Richard Immell - rimmel@usawrestling.org
