It was never a matter of if for United States Olympian and recent Iowa commit Kennedy Blades, but a matter of when.
Blades is one of the premier talents in the United States' pool of youth wrestlers. She made waves initially by becoming the first girl to win a boys state championship in the state of Illinois while in high school, before cementing her status as an elite wrestler by reaching the U.S. Olympic Trials best-of-three finals at the age of 17.
Blades' opponent in the finals was none other than Adeline Gray, a six-time World champion who had set the standard for women's wrestling in the U.S. When Gray won her first World title, Blades was just 9, and Gray continued her career in the most dominant and consistent way possible.
Blades came up short, losing to Gray (who went on to win silver in the 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics). At that moment, Blades was not quite up to the task.
Fast forward to today. Blades has beaten Gray once (at the 2023 U.S. Open) but lost to her again at Final X. Maybe the torch had been passed, but there was enough doubt that it hadn't and that Gray may have one more Olympic run in her.
This time at the Olympic Trials at age 20, Blades left little doubt, rolling through to the Olympic Trials finals once again by winning three matches by a total score of 33-1. Facing Gray once again, Blades triumphed with an 11-6 and an 8-3 decision over Gray to become an Olympian.
"It didn't go my way when I was 17, but I knew I could beat her because I did it before so it's obviously possible," Blades said. "I just trusted my training and I literally just said, 'full send.'"
Now, the Iowa women's wrestling program has its first Olympian after Blades made her way to Iowa City a couple months after clinching the spot. A dream has been realized as Blades now carries the torch as one of the country's best wrestlers.
"This was honestly my goal since I was seven. 2024 was definitely my goal," Blades said. "I've never even made a Senior World Team so it's just amazing to think I made an Olympic team."
Here's everything you need to know about Blades' upcoming test, from her opponents to when she will wrestle.
Opponents in Kennedy Blades' bracket
Blades showed she is capable of beating anyone in the world with her wins over Gray, but it doesn't get any easier when she arrives in Paris.
Aiperi Medt Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan is the No. 1 seed at 76 kilograms, a 25-year-old World silver medalist in 2023 and a World bronze medalist in 2021. She thrashed Gray at the Zagreb Open in Croatia in a 10-0 technical fall. She's wrestled in six World Championships prior to making this year's Olympic team.
The 2023 World champion at 76 kilograms, and perhaps the favorite in Paris, is Yuka Kagami of Japan. At age 23, she is a World champion and a World bronze medalist. Japan is the top women's wrestling country in the world.
No. 2 seed Kagami is followed by No. 3 seed Tatiana Renteria of Columbia, a World bronze medalist in 2023.
Rounding out the top five seeds are Catalina Axente of Romania and Milaimys Marin of Cuba. Both took fifth in their respective weight classes at the World Championships a year ago. Mari defeated Blades at the Spanish Grand Prix this summer by a 13-4 score, so there will need to be a game-plan adjustment for Blades if these two face off again.
There also are three other former Olympians in this field in Nigeria's Hannah Rueben (14th in 2016), Tunisia's Zaineb Sghaier (16th in 2020) and Turkey's Yasemin Adar Yigit (bronze medalist in 2020). Of those three, only Rueben is seeded at No. 6.
Combine those with former World medalists in Canada's Justina Di Stasio (World champion in 2018) and Mongolia's Davaanasan Enkh Amar (World silver medalist in 2023), this is a field full of experienced and talented wrestlers.
Blades has as much talent as anyone in the world as an offensive dynamo, but the question will be whether her talent will show through again as it did at the Olympic Trials or if she'll need more experience to compete at an Olympic level.
Full field of wrestlers in 76-kilogram bracket
- No. 1 Aiperi Medt Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)
- No. 2 Yuka Kagami (Japan)
- No. 3 Tatiana Renteria (Columbia)
- No. 4 Catalina Axente (Romania)
- No. 5 Milaimys Marin (Cuba)
- No. 6 Hannah Rueben (Nigeria)
- No. 7 Justina Di Stasio (Canada)
- No. 8 Bernadett Nagy (Hungary)
- Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria)
- Juan Wang (Chia)
- Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador)
- Reetika (India)
- Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia)
- Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia)
- Yasemin Adar Yigit (Turkey)
- Kennedy Blades (United States)
What is repechage?
Repechage is a French word meaning a second chance, and it will be talked about a lot in Paris.
Fans who watched the Last Chance Qualifier that Iowa's Spencer Lee competed in to qualify for the Olympics may recall what repechage is, but in case this is new to you, here's an explainer:
Repechage is the consolation-bracket format the Olympics will use. Unlike the traditional wrestleback format seen at high school and collegiate levels here in the U.S., only the athletes who lost to the gold-medal finalists of the tournament will get another shot in the consolations to take as high as third. In other words, a bracket is created comprised of every wrestler who lost to a finalist.
Losers of the semifinal matches get a bye to the semifinals of the repechage, where four other wrestlers are remaining for a chance at bronze. Winners of those semifinal matches will then wrestle for bronze.
When will Kennedy Blades wrestle at Olympics?
Here are the session times for Kennedy Blades' matches. Times aren't an exact science here, but these are the scheduled session times via the Olympics. Blades would wrestle in the repechage matches on Aug. 11 only if she were to lose on Aug. 10 to a gold-medal round finalist as previously mentioned.
All times listed are CT.
- Aug. 10from4 a.m to 6:30 a.m: Preliminary rounds and Quarterfinals
- Aug. 10from11:15 a.m to 3 p.m: Semifinals
- Aug. 11from4 a.m to 7:30 a.m: Repechage
- Aug. 11from4 a.m to 7:30 a.m: Medal matches
How to watch Olympic Wrestling
Wrestling will be broadcast live on NBC, as well as being streamed and replay-able on Peaco*ck.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him atEmckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at@EMcKown23
