2016 U.S. OLYMPIAN - 75 kg W Gray adds Olympian to her resume by Gary Abbott Coming into the 2016 U.S. Olympic
Team Trials, Adeline Gray had already established herself as one of the greatest wrestlers in U.S. history, regardless of style or gender. A three-time World medalist and five time World champion, Gray’s record speaks for itself. Among U.S. women, Gray is No. 2 in
World titles behind Tricia Saunders with four, and in World medals behind Kristie Davis with nine. Until April 10, these great superstars had one other thing in com- mon. None of them had been Olympians. Saunders competed before women’s wrestling was in the Olympics. Davis had fallen short at three previous Olympic Trials events. At age 37, Davis entered the 2016 Olympic Trials in Iowa City for another chance at making an Olympic Team. Davis won her first match but lost in her second and did not get a chance to reach the finals. Since the 2012 London Olympics ended, Gray has won three World titles and a World bronze medal, won major events such as the World Cup and Pan American Games, and was on a 35- match win streak going back to July 2014.
Considering how dominant Gray has been the last four years, you might think that the Olympic Team Trials was just a simple business trip for her. That really was not the case.
“I’ve had a really great run these last three years, 35 matches straight unde- feated and just had a lot of success on and off the mat. I’ve just been really pleased with where I am with my wrestling and just continuing to get better. I’m looking forward to getting this week- end solidified and going on to Rio,” she said at the pre-event press conference. Going into 2012, Gray was a 2011
World bronze medalist at 68 kg, a non- Olympic weight. She made a huge sacri- fice and made the drop to 63 kg for the 2012 Olympic Trials, where she finished second behind Elena Pirozhkova. Her previous Olympic Trials experience in 2012 was not what she wanted. Gray moved up in weight in 2013 to the highest Olympic weight class, 75 kg, and has been one of the dominant wrestlers in the world. She wrestled with great energy and technical skill, and brought her performance to a whole new level.
As a World medalist in 2015, Gray advanced directly to the best-of-three Championship Series in Iowa City, waiting to see who would win the Challenge Tournament. In the last two World Team Trials, Gray defeated Jackie Cataline Surber to win this weight class. At the Olympic Trials, 2014 Junior World bronze medalist and two-time WCWA Women’s college national champion Victoria Francis beat Surber 10-2 in the Challenge Tournament finals to advance to the finals against Gray.
In the finals series, it was all Gray, win- ning both matches over Francis by tech- nical fall, 11-0 and 10-0. Her second match, which featured a takedown and multiple turns, ended in just 1:06. When the series ended and Rio was clinched, Gray broke down a bit with tears in her eyes and was very emotional. There were still some tears when she was talked to John Smith and Jason Knapp on NBC Sports Channel in her first interview after earning the Olympic berth. “I don’t know how to put into words how much I wanted this. To be able to call myself an Olympian means so much to me. It’s awesome to know I have a lot of titles and I am a great wrestler. There is something about being special in that Olympic year, and now the world knows I am special. I get to call myself an Olympian forever. It’s an amazing feel- ing,” she said.
Smith asked her about her ability to get
a takedown and quickly transition to get- ting turns, which similar to what hap- pened against Francis, often ends up with Gray getting a technical fall victory. “It has made people I might have tight matches with get blown out of the water because I’m not just scoring takedowns but I’m scoring six points with a couple of turns. I know and have confidence that I am great on top and I know I need just one takedown. Knowing I am great in that position, I can be in any match,” she said. In addition to her feelings of relief and
joy, Gray was also very grateful for all the people who had helped her reach this very important goal. So many of them were in the stadium supporting her. “I have been holding back a lot of emo- tions leading up to this moment. I quali- fied the weight. I knew I was No. 1 in the world. I knew I could do this, but just to actually get this done is another story. I
Adeline Gray waves to the crowd with emotion after winning the 75 kg Championship Series and punching her ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. John Sachs photo.
am so proud of myself. I am excited that my support system is so great. I feel like this weekend was really easy because of those great people. I owe so much to my coaches, my family, my boyfriend and everybody who really stepped up and allowed me to get the job done,” she said.
Earlier this year, against a loaded field, Gray won a gold medal at the Olympic Test Event in the Olympic wrestling venue in Rio de Janiero. Now she has earned the right to return to Rio in her quest to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
“I also wrestled the girls I am going to have in Rio in the semis and finals down there. Having that kind of competition and coming out on top is awesome. It was a little burst of confidence there,” she said.
13 USA Wrestler
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