Kennedy Blades, silver winner at the Paris Olympics 2024, is ready to reach even greater heights, dominating the wrestling circuit with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Blades’ Olympics journey has been great, as she won silver and fell short of gold with not a big margin. She performed in the 76 kg category and lost the game by 3-1 to Japan’s Yuka Kagami. 

Kennedy is going to use her Olympic experience to fuel her ambition in upcoming championships. “So just being here (in Iowa’s team) and being able to access all those types of resources, I just know that, like, these championships are gonna come by pretty quickly,” Blades remarked during Hawkeyes media day. Can Blades replicate her individual success in a team-oriented environment, and how quickly can she rise to the top of NCAA wrestling?

Blades’ eyes are set on NCAA championships

Now that Kennedy Blades is representing Iowa, the stakes are higher than ever. She is eager to tackle all the challenges that come with NCAA wrestling, as it is different from international wrestling. Blades is excited to get transferred to Iowa, as she said, “This whole team is just a family, and it’s like, you know, we’re all sisters here, and I just love that. Something I did not have at ASU. So that’s a huge plus for me.”

“I don’t know; I’m almost kind of like a freshman here because I’m a newcomer; I’m still learning everything,” Blades told the Hawkeyes reporter. Blades has also expressed her eagerness to work with coaches like Brad Smith and Dennis Gavin. Talking about the staff, she said, “Who doesn’t want to be around those coaches?” Earlier, Blades was coached by Israel Martinez.

Blades is sharpening her skills to enter the next chapter. But the question comes: how quickly can she adapt to the team-focused dynamics? Will she be able to bring the NCAA wrestling title as smoothly as she bagged her Olympic medal?

Kennedy Blades’ Olympic journey, a road to Paris

Blades’ path is inspiring and extraordinary; during her Paris Olympics, she entered the gold medal match with a 3-0 record. She crushed Romania’s Catalina Axente with a 11-0 victory in the opening bout. Her subsequent matches led her to face tough competition from her opponent, and she scored 23 points in her three bouts. 

In the 2023 World Championships also, she claimed a silver medal in the 76 kg weight category and became one of the world’s top female wrestlers. Her victory against Olympic medalist Adeline Gray showed that Blade is not only a rising star but a strong contender on the international stage. After winning a silver, Kennedy Blades became the very first female wrestler from Hawkeye to ever win an Olympic medal. After her bout, she seemed happy as her aim was to hit a suplex and said, “Thankfully I did it.“

Blades’ Olympic success, however, was just one part of her wrestling journey. She has worked really hard to reach this milestone, and her family, especially her father, Saul Pulido, has played a vital role in it. “My dad would take us to this gym where he was training this MMA fighter, and my sister and I would mimic what our father did,” Kennedy Blades said. Now, speaking about her future, only time will tell if the collegiate season will mark the beginning of her already established career.