Kayla Miracle is headed back to the Summer Olympic Games. Probably.
Miracle won the gold medal in the women’s 62kg category at the 2024 Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament last month. That followed her win in the same category at the Pan American Wrestling Championships just days earlier.
The American wrestler all but locked up her own personal spot in Paris. But it’s still not a guarantee.
While she won Team USA a quota spot in the 62kg category, USA Wrestling still has to name her to the spot. It’s largely a formality, as Miracle is the best American. Yet injuries and other issues can creep up.
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She talked about the difficulties of having to qualify for the Olympics in this way.
Still, it would be a shocker if she didn’t return to the Olympics, this time in Paris.
In Tokyo, Miracle was the first LGBTQ wrestler to be publicly out while competing at the Olympic Games. She was one of at least 186 out athletes on Team LGBTQ.
She told Outsports at the time that she has found an inclusive community in the wrestling world.
“With wrestling, we always try to say, ‘any body can wrestle,’” she said. “Shape, size, gender, religion, orientation. They try to be very inclusive. I’m proud to be part of a community that is really trying to push for that.”
Born and raised in Indiana, she competed against boys growing up. Finding girls who wrestled was tough at the time.
Since then, she’s blazed a medal-winning trail for herself. And we can’t wait to cheer her on in Paris this summer.
You can follow Kayla Miracle on Instagram.
