Wrestling
Kyle Snyder exclusive: Working smarter not harder after "God-given talent" made him the best in the world
The Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medallist and three-time world champion talked to Olympics.com about his road to the top and why he doesn't see his son following his path.
God-given talent and a bit of delusion.
That's how world and Olympic freestyle wrestling champion Kyle Snyder sums up his journey to the top.
Speaking exclusively to Olympics.com after securing his third consecutive Pan American Games title in Santiago on Wednesday (1 November), Snyder said, “I go into the wrestling room sometimes and I get killed by some older guys and the next day I come in thinking I was gonna win and [I would] do that over and over and over again. I was delusional in that sense, I guess."
His unwavering confidence, and belief that a large part of his ability has been “just given” to him, has made Snyder one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Kyle Snyder (R) takes on Costa Rica's Maxwell Lacey in the 2023 Pan American Games 97kg semi-finals
Kyle Snyder's journey to the top
A two-time world junior champion, Snyder went on to make American wrestling history by becoming its youngest world champion and youngest Olympic gold medallist.
Now, he is a two-time Olympic and six-time World Championship medallist with eyes on Paris 2024.
How did he get there? Hard work, yes. Intense training regimes, some. But Snyder says the main reason behind his success is "God given talent and ability".
He added, "A lot of it was just things that I didn’t really have to work for. It was just given to me."
Snyder's success started early and he established an incredible 179-0 through his first three years of high school before going on to train at the United States Olympic Training Center in his senior year and committing to Ohio State University.
In his second year in the NCAA, before turning 21, he became the youngest wrestler to win the triple crown - world, NCAA and Olympic titles - in the same year.
After securing 97kg Olympic gold at Rio 2016, Snyder won his first meeting with Abdulrashid Sadulaev to retain his world title in 2017.
The 'Russian Tank', who took 86kg gold in Rio, has won their three subsquent encounters including in the final at Tokyo 2020.
They could renew the sport's greatest rivalry in Paris, and 27-year-old Snyder insists he will be better prepared than ever despite thinking about maximising his longevity by training smarter not harder.
While he no longer puts in extra hours running, conditioning or live wrestling everyday, he maintains he is still "the hardest working guy in there".
He added, “I actually do a lot less work now than I did when I was younger and I still feel like I’m getting better.
“Nobody’s more focused; nobody wants to get better as bad as I do when I’m in there, but I just don’t really deviate from the plan."
That combination of natural ability, unwavering focus and determination and, in his words, being “delusional” in the sense of never thinking he could lose, has made him one of the outstanding wrestlers of the modern era.
Kyle Snyder’s all-time favourite match
“It’s the only time I’ve ever cried after winning a match,” Snyder said about his 2015 World Championships win over Russia’s Abdusalam Gadisov.
“In my mind, he was the best wrestler I’d ever seen. I looked up to him when I was in high school, so when I beat him I was like, 'I could beat anybody.'"
What made victory all the sweeter was that Snyder - who at 19 became the youngest American to win a wrestling world title - was coming off a devastating NCAA loss during his freshman year at Ohio State.
He was pinned in the final of his first NCAA Championships by Kyven Gadson, costing him his chance of becoming a four-time NCAA champion.
“I was heartbroken,” he said. "Then to go from being the second best collegiate wrestler to the best wrestler in the world, that was a crazy thing for me.”
Kyle Snyder celebrates his Olympic gold at Rio 2016
Kyle Snyder says he cannot lose in front of his son
With a wife and one-year-old son travelling with him nearly everywhere he goes, Snyder's family and faith are his only priorities above wrestling.
While they currently "change a lot of diapers and feed him all the time, pretty much", he already has plans for young Judah's future. And they don't involve wrestling.
“My first love was football growing up," he said. "I wanted to be in the NFL, I just didn’t have the height for it. So, Lord-willing, he gets his grandad’s height (1.93m; 6'4") and we’ll play some football."
His wife, Maddie Pack, and son will accompany him to the World Championships in 2024 as well as to Paris, assuming he makes it through the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Snyder says having his son there makes the stakes even higher, no matter how young and oblivious he may be.
“You don't wanna lose in front of your kid! Even though he doesn't even know what's going on, one day he'll know and he'll be able to be like, 'Dad, why'd that guy beat you?' So I gotta stay on top."
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