IOWA CITY, Iowa – 2024 Olympian Kennedy Blades has signed a national letter of intent to join the University of Iowa women’s wrestling program starting in 2024. Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun made the announcement on Tuesday.
The Chicago, native is a three-time world medalist. At u20s, Blades brought home gold in 2021 and a bronze in 2023. She also competed at the 2023 u23 world championships where she captured the silver medal. She was also the first girl to win an Illinois state championship and took second at the 2020 US Olympic Trials at the age of 17.
Blades is representing Team USA at 76kg at the 2024 Olympics in Paris starting on August 10th. At Olympic trials in April, she defeated 2020 Olympic medalist Adeline Gray to secure her spot on Team USA.