Displeased Former USA Olympian Expresses Outrage Over Scarcity of Wrestling Tournaments in the Nation

The 2023 World Wrestling Championship has ended on a great note. In this nine-day event held from September 16–24, many staunch athletes exhibited great performances. Interestingly, this year, the USA team secured the second overall position in the event and clinched a multitude of medals. The team attained four gold medals, three silver, and seven bronze medals in the overall table at this year’s event.

However, following the remarkable performances by U.S. wrestlers on the Belgrade mats recently, an ex-olympian shared his opinion on the conditions of wrestling in the United States. A video of the athlete expressing outrage over the scarcity of wrestling tournaments in the nation has made waves in the wrestling community.

Former Olympics Wrestler expresses outrage

On September 27, Flowrestling posted a short clip of a podcast captioned “I wish every week was World Week” on X. In the video, former Olympic wrestler Ben Askren, while talking about the recently concluded World Wrestling Championships, highlighted the scarcity of tournaments in the United States. The 39-year-old stated in the podcast, “The Worlds is fun. You know what I think about this morning? I was kind of sad about it. This is so much fun to watch. I just don’t get to watch too much international wrestling because a lot of these guys don’t compete a lot.”

Further, while comparing wrestling to other sports, Askren added, “Like in, say, tennis or golf, the best guys in the world are competing very regularly. I mean, it doesn’t have to be 15 times a year. But if we got to see, it doesn’t have to be all the best guys, but if we got to see a decent chunk of the best guys compete, I don’t know, every other month, six times a year, that would be so awesome. That would help the sport of wrestling a lot. Lastly,the athlete, agreeing with the other members present in the podcast, looks forward to witnessing more wrestling tournaments held in the United States or events following the nation’s time zone.

Interestingly, this video comes after the U.S. athletes showcased staunch performances on the mats of Belgrade. At the event, seven U.S. athletes were able to secure their names on the quota list for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Team USA’s staunch performance at the 2023 Worlds

At the event, David Taylor, 86 kg, defeated Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani to secure his name on the quota list. The three-time world champion won the match with a score of 9-3. In the event of his selection, Taylor can defend the title he secured at the Tokyo Olympics.

Interestingly, Helen Maroulis, the first female wrestler of the United States to win a gold in the Olympics, has also confirmed her name on the list. The athlete participating in the 57 kg class amid recovering from the challenges of her brain injury secured her spot after winning bronze at the 2023 Worlds.

Apart from these staunch athletes, Kyle Snyder (97kg) and Mason Parris (125 kg) also secured their spot on the quota.

Also read: 2023 World Wrestling Champion Exposes US Opponent’s Shocking “Disrespectful” Antics After Handing Him Silver

In essence, this year, the U.S. athlete has indeed exhibited remarkable performances at the World Wrestling Championships and as per Askren, the US wrestlers deserves more attention in their homeland.

Watch this story: Most Decorated Olympic Athlete Who Broke Usain Bolt’s Record Goes Down Memory Lane of Her Glorious Career