USA Wrestler Pays Heavy Price for Failing to Qualify Weight as Olympics Hope Diminish

The World Wrestling Championship recently became the hotbed of a lot of high-stake upsets and drama. While the upsets didn’t steal a shot at the Olympics for pro wrestlers Kyle Dake and Kyle Snyder, the same can’t be said for another US wrestler. The esteemed athlete had to step out of the game owing to unforeseen circumstances, thus, jeopardizing his spot at the Olympics. 

The wrestling world was sent into a frenzy after a top wrestling sensation failed to meet the qualifying weight. The failure resulted in the creation of an instant power vacuum, leaving room for other wrestlers to fill the gap. In fact, several eligible candidates have already lined up to replace the top American wrestler. 

Zane Richards faces plausible Olympics drought

Zane Richards is a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler and also made it to the FILA cadet world team in 2011. The 29-year-old star wrestler was all girded up for the upcoming Olympics in Paris but was hit by a major setback. Richards’ failure to meet the qualifying weight for the Olympics has greatly diminished his chances to grab an Olympic berth. The situation now demands him to qualify for his previously confirmed spot against other US wrestlers at the upcoming Pan American qualifiers. 

A tweet on X by FloWrestling discussed the issue and explained the conditions that now enable other candidates to fill Richard’s spot. The US team hasn’t had a dominant wrestler in the 57kg category for quite some time, unlike rival nations. While Kyle Snyder (97kg) and Kyle Dake (74kg) earned their Olympics qualification at the World Championships, a powerful candidate for 57kg is yet to be decided. 

Although, Zane Richards has somewhat established himself in the weight category but now stands the chance of getting knocked out. Richards can still defend his Olympics spot. However, he will have to do it against a line-up of opponents. Needless to say, defeating each of these opponents won’t be a cakewalk as most have already claimed medals at the World Championships.

Gilman, Fix & Vito to contest against Zane Richards

The crazy turn of events now grants US Wrestlers Thomas Gilman, Daton Fix, and Vito Arujau to request a wrestle-off against Richards, to earn a spot at the Games. All the candidates have won a gold medal in the 57kg weight class across multiple games. In fact, Thomas Gilman won the bronze medal at Tokyo in the weight category. 

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The candidate who successfully replaces Richards also stands a chance to earn the number one seed spot at the Olympic trials. While the recipe for chaos is already for Richards, the same broth will also be served to Nick Lee. The 65kg weight class wrestler also stands to lose his chance against Zain Retherford and Yianni Diakomihalis. Will Richards be able to save himself from this storm and make it to the 2024 Olympics?

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