The Paris Olympics offer wrestling veteran Kyle Dake a chance to rewrite his story and claim the gold that slipped away. Back in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Kyle faced a tough loss that ended his 49-match winning streak in a technical fall, something he hadn’t experienced since 2015. Despite being a favorite for gold, he settled for bronze after defeating tough competitors like Geandry Garzón from Cuba and Frank Chamizo from Italy.

Fast forward three years to 2024, and 33-year-old Kyle Dake has now climbed to the top of the 74 kg category. He’s snagged two World Championship titles and a silver, proving himself in one of wrestling’s toughest weight classes. At an age when many wrestlers are thinking about hanging up their singlets, Kyle has faced just two losses in the last six years. His sights are firmly set on that Olympic gold, and he’s more determined than ever. But it’s not just about personal glory; the 4x World Champion has two big reasons to strive for that Olympic champion title.

A driving force behind Kyle Dake’s Paris Olympics goal

According to The Ithaca Voice, Kyle Dake enters the Paris Olympics as the 74 kg top seed, but his journey is fueled by a deeply emotional goal. Just nine days before Kyle secured his spot in the Games by beating Jason Nolf at the U.S. Olympic team trials, his dad, Douglas Dake, passed away. It was an incredibly emotional win for Kyle. He told The Ithaca Voice, “[My dad] was a part of the journey. I’m carrying the torch now. If he were here to tell you, he would say [he] passed it off a long time ago. But he and I, we kind of went through it all together. It was our thing that we did together, what we talked about a lot of the time.”

Kyle’s wrestling skills can be credited to both his dad and grandfather, who were deeply involved in the sport as athletes and coaches. His grandfather wrestled at Ithaca High School and coached Bowling Green State University’s wrestling team, while his dad was an All-American wrestler at Kent State University and coached at Cornell University. Despite his dad’s passing, Kyle never considered dropping out of the trials or giving up his shot at another Olympics. He believes that wrestling is a solo journey where you have to handle everything yourself, owning every success and shaping your perspective on both the good and the bad.

Kyle’s biggest goal for the Paris Olympics is simple but powerful: “I would say that my goal is to go out and be the best I can be. That was always the lesson that [my dad] tried to teach me was just go do your best, be your best. I just want to go honor that and continue what I’ve been able to do and he’ll always be there with me in spirit.” As we reflect on this vital reason driving the four-time NCAA Division I National Champion, there’s another key factor that makes him a strong contender for gold at the Paris Olympics.

The path to gold looks clear for the 74 kg top seed

At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Kyle Dake was defeated in the quarterfinals by Russian-Belarusian wrestler and professional mixed martial artist Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov, losing by technical fall and failing to score a point, something that hadn’t happened to him since 2013. Kadimagomedov went on to win the silver medal, losing to Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia, who claimed gold with a 7-0 victory.

Fast forward to the Paris Olympics, and there’s a big twist: both Sidakov and Kadimagomedov are out of the bid and haven’t been cleared by the IOC to compete. Due to the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes needed special clearance to compete as neutral athletes, and neither Sidakov nor Kadimagomedov met the requirements.

With these two champions out and taking down some of the best in the game, like fellow Olympians Frank Chamizo, Tajmuraz Salkazanov, Georgios Kougioumtsidis, and others, he has asserted his dominance as the favorite to win gold in Paris. Reflecting on this journey, do you believe these two critical reasons could pave the way for Kyle Dake to claim Olympic gold in Paris? What are your thoughts? Share in the comments below!