With less than a year to go for the Olympics, wrestlers around the world have started returning to their normal routines. They have begun their training for the Tokyo Games. While some are doing it individually, others have resumed sparring. 2016 Olympic gold medallist Kyle Snyder too has hit the gym once again. The US wrestler recently shared a picture on Instagram of himself lifting the weights. Citing the Gospel of Mathew’s, he wrote, “Be a worker. Matthew 9:37”.
The former world champion is one of the best medal bets for the USA at the Olympics. Currently ranked second in the United World Wrestling’s 97kg freestyle rankings, his main rival at the Tokyo 2020 would be Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev.
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They first met at the 2017 worlds held in Paris where Snyder ended Sadulaev’s five-year-long unbeaten run. They clashed again, 12 months later at the Budapest world championships. However, this time it was the Russian who got the better of his US counterpart.
Snyder although booked a Tokyo berth for his country, he is yet to qualify for the Team USA for the Olympics. His biggest challenger would be J’den Cox who is moving up from 92kg to compete in an Olympic weight class But Sadulaev believes that Snyder has a better chance to fly to Tokyo for the Summer Games.
The national championship will be held in October at Xtream Arena & GreenState Family Fieldhouse in Coralville, Iowa, October 9-11.