The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are ready to begin on NBC and the excitement continues to build for all the competitors, coaches, officials and fans.
USA Wrestling CEO Rich Bender expects several of the wrestlers to bring home Gold Medals, stressing this is the most talented group to ever compete for the United States in the Olympics.
Rich Bender joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle to talk about the USA team and his Hall of Fame career.
"Really all six of our women wrestlers are medal hopes and then you come to the men's freestyle team, and this isn't arrogance or bragging, it's the best team on the planet. We've won the last two World Championships. We'll send six athletes to Paris. Every one of them being a Gold Medalist. It's unheard of to win all six weights but have and Olympic or World medalist in every one of those weights."
Under Bender's leadership, the U-S-A Wrestling team has won 26 Olympic medals with nine gold. USA Wrestling had its first women’s Olympic wrestling champion in 2016 and U.S. women’s wrestling performance has improved with a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the 2020 Olympics and a record-tying seven medals at the Women’s World Championships in 2021 and 2022.
Bender led the push to include women wrestlers compete in the Olympic Games more than 20 years ago.
"It's obvious to me and I think others that the impact the sport has on males has the same potential to have that kind of impact on females. For years, women's wrestling struggled for acceptance simply because we didn't have enough women wrestlers that they could face each other. People were getting hung up on girls wrestling guys. Some people just thought that wasn't right. We knew that at the end of the day no girl should be denied an opportunity to participate in this sport. We know how cool and great it is and how impactful it can be."
The USA Wrestling team is led by now three-time Olympian Kyle Snyder, who won Gold in 2016 and Silver in 2020. Bender says Snyder is a rare wrestler who has been able to maintain excellence for so many years.
"Kyle has had a passion for wrestling that's very unique. The intense passion that Kyle has for the sport and his focus on winning and achieving success at the highest level in pretty unique. We have big hopes for him to bring home another Gold Medal in Paris."
Olympic wrestling matches begin in August.
Bender has led one of the most successful periods in USA Wrestling history, both on and off the mat, since being named acting executive director of USA Wrestling in November 2000
and permanent director in February 2001. He is the longest-serving Executive Director in organization history.
Bender was born and raised in the rural community of Boscobel, Wisconsin where he attended high school and was a three-sport athlete, lettering in football, wrestling, and baseball.
You can SEE the entire SportsJam interview with Rich Bender here.
