Team USA returns from 2023 World Wrestling Championships with 14 medals and seven Paris 2024 quotas
Podium performances from David Taylor, Amit Elor and the rest of Team USA preview what could be, as nations obtain their first Paris 2024 quotas
Wrestling
Team USA returned home from the 2023 World Wrestling Championships with four gold, three silver and seven bronze medals to finish in second place in the overall medal table, just behind Japan.
Outstanding performances and top-four finishes from the American athletes also earned the U.S. seven spots at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, including those in the following weight classes:
- Men’s freestyle 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg
- Women’s freestyle 50kg, 57kg and 76kg.
Individual athletes who have secured a quota still need to make it through the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials from April 19-20, where the final team will be selected and announced.
As the first opportunity to make Olympic headway**, the World Championships in Belgrade were a taste of what could be the 18 Americans** that will ultimately represent their nation on the big stage next summer.
Here are some of the United States’ standout performances, as well as all of the athletes returning home with hardware.
CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 05: David Morris Taylor III of Team United States competes against Hassan Yazdanicharati of Team Iran during the Men's Freestyle 86kg Final on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall on August 05, 2021 in Chiba, Japan.
David Taylor, 86kg
Olympic champion David Taylor once again defeated his arch-rival Hassam Yazdani in a dramatic bout on the world stage.
Already up 9-3 with three seconds left on the clock, Taylor pinned Iran’s Yazdani to leave no questions about who would take the 2023 world title.
The American and Iranian have dominated the 86kg class for nearly eight years, holding every major title since 2017.
Taylor, now 32 years old, is a three-time world champion who has secured a quota to Paris 2024 for his NOC. If selected, he will attempt to increase his stack of golds and retain his title of reigning Olympic champion.
Amit Elor, 72kg
At 19 years old, Amit Elor is a back-to-back senior world champion with her eyes on next year’s Olympic Games.
She took down Mongolia’s Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan in Belgrade for her second consecutive gold.
Fighting at 72kg, she did not compete in a weight class that will be competed in Paris, but in her post-match press conference, she said “The Olympics is my ultimate dream; it’s been my dream ever since I can remember.”
Elor will have to decide if she is going to cut weight or gain it to begin pursuing a spot in either the 68kg or 78kg weight class as her priorities begin to shift towards the Olympics.
She admitted that it will be a challenge to figure out which category to pursue over the upcoming year. Growing up, her parents were always against cutting or losing weight, but she confessed that 68kg is more likely, as she already tends to be on the lower end of 72kg.
The U.S. is yet to secure a quota for the freestyle women’s 68kg class after Emma Bruntil finished in sixth for the United States in Belgrade.
If Elor hopes to secure a spot in the category over her competitors, she will have to place in the top two at the 2023 Pan American Games in October and November, or in the top two of the 2024 World Qualification Tournament.
The team selection will be made by the United States Olympic Committee, so her name will also have to be present on the final roster.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 08: Skylar Grote (red singlet) competes against Amit Elor (blue singlet) in the Women’s Freestyle 72kg match during the 12th Annual Beat the Streets Wrestling Benefit at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on June 08, 2022 in New York City.
Helen Maroulis, 57kg
Capturing bronze and securing a Paris 2024 quota for the United States in the 57kg class, Helen Maroulis continues her return from the challenges of her 2018 brain injury.
Now a nine-time world and Olympic medalist, Maroulis’ success comes from the drive to prove that she belongs in the sport.
She was the first American woman to win a wrestling gold at the Olympic Games and after suffering a brain injury two years later while wrestling in India, she told Insider that she was left “so concussed, my personality changed.”
Behind the Olympic bronze medal that came next, as well as world silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023, Maroulis has dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder, a torn ligament in her knee and multiple brutal losses.
After years of putting on a tough face and hard exterior, Maroulis learned through her own struggles that many athletes battle with their mental health.
“I really looked at her [sports medicine doctor] and I said, ‘why aren’t we talking about this?',” she continued to tell Insider.
“I would just love to know that I’m not alone in the struggle.”
After securing a quota for Paris, Maroulis may have the opportunity to go for her third Olympic medal and continue to open the conversation about mental health among athletes.
CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 04: Risako Kawai of Team Japan competes against Helen Louise Maroulis of Team United States during the Women’s Freestyle 57kg Semi Final on day twelve of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall on August 04, 2021 in Chiba, Japan.
On top of Elor and Taylor, the United States took home two more gold medals.
Vito Arujau, now 61kg world champion, is also the reigning NCAA champion after closing out his fifth-year of university at Cornell. With no 61kg class at the Olympic Games, Arujau would be expected to make the jump up to 65kg or down to 57kg. At the Tokyo 2020 trials, Arujau opted to move down to 57kg and finished runner-up to eventual Tokyo bronze medalist, Thomas Gilman.
Former Penn State wrestler and three-time NCAA champion Zain Retherford captured his first world title in Belgrade after taking silver in 2022. Competing at 70kg, Retherford will have to make the jump to 74kg or down to 65kg before the U.S. Olympic trials in April of 2024 if he hopes to represent the United States at his first Olympics.
Another stand-out performer was Adeline Gray, a six-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist, who captured bronze after giving birth to twins just over one year ago. “I’m taking notes of who’s standing on this podium with me, and looking forward to Paris and hopefully standing on that top spot,” she said.
The silver medalists for the United States include Kyle Dake, Jacarra Winchester and Macey Kilty.
The bronze medalists include Zahid Valencia, Kyle Snyder, Mason Parris, Sarah Hildebrandt, Helen Maroulis, Jennifer Rogers and Adeline Gray.
The next opportunities to obtain Olympic quotas are at the 2023 Pan American Games and the 2024 World Qualification Tournament. To make the final roster, all athletes will have to be selected by Team USA at U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in April 2024.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.