2024 Olympic Trials Watch Party

Kennedy Blades Wins Five Straight Matches To Make Olympic Wrestling Team

Kennedy Blades Wins Five Straight Matches To Make Olympic Wrestling Team

Kennedy Blades won the loaded 76-kilogram women's freestyle bracket to make the 2024 Olympic Team.

Apr 21, 2024
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The path wasn't easy, but Kennedy Blades made the 2024 Olympic Team at 76 kilograms.

She had to survive a challenge tournament that included five wrestlers who had reached Final X or the final Olympic Trials. 

She won her first quarterfinal match over Skylar Grote (2022 Final X), 11-0.

She won her semifinal match over Dymond Guilford (2022 Senior World Team), 11-1.

She won her final match over Yelena Makoyed (2022 Final X), 11-0.

Waiting in the best-of-three finals was 33-year-old Adeline Gray -- a six-time World champion and 2020 Olympic silver medalist. 

The two faced off three times last year with Blades winning the US Open finals, 12-2, before dropping both matches to Gray at Final X, 7-5, and by fall.

The 20-year-old turned the tables at the 2024 Olympic Trials with 11-6 and 8-3 wins to make the Olympic Teams. Gray earned a spot in the best-of-three finals after winning a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships. 

This is Blades's first senior-level World team after winning a U23 World silver medal and U20 bronze medal in 2023, and a 2021 Junior World title. She reached the best-of-three series at the 2020 Olympic Trials at 68 kg and fell in straight matches to eventual Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock. 

Click here for full results and brackets.