The name Kennedy Blades sounds like it could have been conjured up by a Marvel Comics writer, conveying a superhero. Instead, it belongs to an American freestyle wrestler who won the U.S. Olympic Trials, and is nominated for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 pending NOC approval.
“It’s a signature name, like Simone Biles, Michael Jordan, like you almost put those two names together, Kennedy Blades and the last name, I mean, it just it sounds amazing,” she said with a laugh in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.
She might not be a superhero, but Blades showed at the trials in April that she can perform superhuman feats. She beat Adeline Gray, a six-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist, twice to earn her spot on the U.S. team. It took her a moment to realize the magnitude of that win.
“It didn’t really sink in. I just like winning, and I felt the energy from the crowd. But then when I went in the back, I was like, whoa. Like, this is happening. All of my prayers and dreams and everything. It's coming true,” she said.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
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Kennedy Blades: “The goal is Olympic gold”
Since winning the Olympic trials, Blades said her life and training haven’t changed much. Though she’s a student at Arizona State, she deferred her scholarship for the spring term so she can focus on wrestling, so her days are still filled with training. Making the Olympic team was just the start for her.
“The goal is Olympic gold. I mean, it's big. I can forever say I'm an Olympian, but like, now we're really there. I want to finish the job,” Blades said.
And it’s not just her goal. The U.S. has quotas for every weight class in women’s freestyle wrestling, and Blades said the whole team has an eye on winning it all.
“I think we just have such a good group going and we all want gold. We’re not just like, oh, we made the Olympics. It's exciting that it's not just me that wants it all. My teammates want it too. We're all just going to build each other up,” she said.
The U.S. team is a snapshot of the growth of women’s wrestling in the U.S. While there are tenured wrestlers like Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis, who became the first American woman nominated to three Olympic teams, there are also young wrestlers like Blades and Amit Elor.
Wrestlers like Maroulis and Gray opened doors for Blades and Elor, and now Blades is ready to take down walls for the wrestlers coming after her.
“We can keep pushing the sport and having it grow. Taking out one of the most decorated women’s wrestlers (Gray), I feel like the girls in my generation and below can see like, wow, look, I can, I can beat the higher girls. I can beat the older girls. They probably just have like a little bit of fear like, oh, they've been wrestling forever. They’ve been to worlds like five times, they have a gold medal. If you really believe in yourself and you put in the work, then anything is possible. You can win,” Blades said.
How the wrestling community has supported Kennedy Blades
Blades isn’t the only wrestler in her family. Her sister Korina wrestles at 62 kg. Though she has been off the mat because of injuries, Korina is Kennedy’s biggest support and driving force. This dynamic started early in their lives.
“Ever since we were little girls, the stuff we went through with doing those really hard practices and, boys never wanting to be our partners. We always had to go with each other, and guys not giving us the respect that we deserve because we were girls. But, luckily, we always had each other. We forever will be Blades sisters together,” she said.
Wrestling in the United States has a long tradition of brothers dominating the sport together. Tom Brands won gold in Atlanta 1996, while his brother Terry won bronze in Sydney 2000. Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz each won gold in Los Angeles 1984, as did Ed Banach and Lou Banach.
Blades can understand why success runs in families because of how she and her sister support each other.
“Even though she can't be there physically, training with me, she's still in the room watching. And she's just helping me get through really tough times. When I have to get that last rep in or if I need my hair braided or something. She definitely played a significant role,” she said.
Two other key parts of Kennedy’s community are her coaches Izzy Martinez and Mark Perry. They each have an important role in her preparation.
“Izzy helps me mentally. He knows what I'm capable of. And sometimes I can get in my own head, like when I'm training and stuff. And he helps me snap out of it. And then Perry, he gives me a lot of a lot of confidence because he also knows I'm capable of. He thinks I'm the greatest heavyweight to ever wrestle. He tells me all these things and boosts my confidence. But Perry's also really, really technical. It's just insane how he studies our opponents. It just makes wrestling way easier. So it's just a perfect combination,” she said.
Blades experienced another part of the wrestling community that has her back at the Olympic trials. After her wins, young wrestling fans lined up to chant her name and ask for her autograph.
“I never want to not sign something. I think it's just such an important part of wrestling for even the highest people to interact with the younger generation and the people who look up to you because that's what helps us become a great community. I don't see myself as different, because we're all capable of excelling in something that we're talented in. You could do it too, if you put the work in and you believe in yourself and you trust God and anything's possible, and I just always try to spread that message to everyone because sometimes they're like, I wish I could do what you do. So I'm like, you can! It's possible. And it comes with hard work and dedication,” she said.
“I don't think I'll ever get over it, but, I don't ever want to, though, because it just makes me want to work harder to do greater and better things because it just inspires people. And I love that.”
