Paris Olympics 2024: Who Is Kali Wilding? Athlete Who Changed Nationalities, All Set to Represent Team USA

Kali Wilding is all set to live her Olympic dreams and she’s just 21! Her rise to the top has been nothing short of incredible. Back in 2018, Wilding competed at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games Canoeing World Qualification Event. Trying her luck in both repechage and junior qualification, she ended up with figures 2:06.05 and 2:00.89, respectively. At the moment, Wilding is ranked as the number one sprint kayaker in the United States. 

A chunk of Wilding’s success surely goes to her mother, Shelley Oates-Wilding, who is also in charge of managing the US Kayak Team. Now that the duo stands tantalizingly close to their dreams, here’s a detailed breakdown of how it all worked out for good. 

Kali Wilding eyeing for the Olympic Gold!

Victory tasted sweet for Kali Wilding as she won at the recently concluded US Olympic Team Trials in California. After conquering the CSUS Aquatic Center, her next stop before the Olympics would be the Continental Olympic Qualifier which takes place in Florida. However, in a surprising twist, Kali Wilding is not originally a born American. 

Kali was born in Australia and the kayaking genes were in her blood right from the start. Her mother, Shelley Oates-Wilding was a professional kayaker and also represented Australia twice at the Olympics. It was during her middle school years that Kali would shift to the US. As fate would have it, Shelley had to relocate after her husband was vested with the responsibility of coaching the men’s national team. 

Soon after Kali relocated to Hawaii, she became interested in kayaking and several water sports. And now that she has been declared a bonafide US citizen, Kali Wilding is raring to take the waters by storm and clinch the Olympic gold. However, all of this would not have been possible without the immense support of Kali’s parents. 

Olympian mother played a key role in Kali Wilding’s meteoric rise

While Kali Wilding started kayaking from a tender age, their parents made sure not to force their kid into anything. Growing up, Kali was initially obsessed with gymnastics, before making the cut to the US U15 national team. And surely enough, things started to change. She said, “After I got the opportunity to compete internationally, I saw how much it can teach you and all the places it can take you… Then I realized how much I really wanted to do it.” 

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Once Kali got going, there was no looking back. Ably guided and trained by her parents, the 21-year-old soon became a force to be reckoned with within the kayaking realm while training for 10 to 11 hours daily. Kali’s mother is so confident about her daughter that she is already planning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Thus, while Kali Wilding knocks on the doors of her dreams, the world will watch with bated breath as she attempts to clinch the golden snitch.