Adeline Gray
2021 World Wrestling Championships
Personal information
Full nameAdeline Maria Gray
Born (1991-01-15) January 15, 1991 (age 33)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.[1]
Alma materBear Creek High - Lakewood, CO
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[2]
SpouseDamaris Sanders[3]
Sport
SportWrestling
University teamDeVry University
ClubNew York Athletic Club[4]
Coached byTerry Steiner, Nate Engel[2]
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1
World finals6
National finals5
Highest world ranking1
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 76 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Strathcona 67 kg
Gold medal – first place 2014 Tashkent 75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2015 Las Vegas 75 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Budapest 76 kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Nur-Sultan 76 kg
Gold medal – first place 2021 Oslo 76 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Istanbul 67 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Budapest 72 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Belgrade 76 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Toronto 75 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Lima 76 kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Buenos Aires 76 kg
Gold medal – first place 2021 Guatemala City 76 kg
Silver medal – second place 2020 Ottawa 76 kg
Updated on 3 November 2021.

Adeline Maria Gray (born January 15, 1991) is an American freestyle wrestler who currently competes at 76 kilograms. She is a six-time world champion (2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021) and a two-time Olympian (2016, 2020), with the silver medal in her event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[5] She is the first American woman to win back-to-back wrestling world titles since Tricia Saunders in 1998 and 1999. She is also the first American woman wrestler to win six world championships.[6]

Early life

Gray was born on January 15, 1991, in Denver, Colorado to George and Donna Gray,[7] and has three younger sisters, including fellow wrestler Geneva Gray[8] and began her wrestling career with the help of her father.[1]

Career

On September 27, 2012, Gray competed in the 2012 Women's World Wrestling Championships in Edmonton, Canada.[9] In her first match against Dzhanan Manolova of Bulgaria, Adeline came out a little slow, then exploded with a great 3 point throw and won the 1st period 3–0. In the second period, she took Manolova down and turned her in a leg lace for another point, then she just defended the rest of the period for a 2–0 win. In the next round, she faced off against Yoshiko Inoue of Japan, the only one to score on Adeline. Inoue scored first in the first period but Adeline came back and scored on a push out to secure the first period win. In the second period, Adeline looked in control with her under hooks, scoring a throw-by and getting her leg lace for a 3–0 win. In the Semi-Finals against Kaur Navjot of India, she looked very confident and showed no fear and dominated Navjot from the start. Adeline secured her second takedown and controlled her legs standing tilts to a stack for the pin.[citation needed]

In the Finals, Gray faced off against the 2012 Jr World Champion, Dorothy Yeats of Canada, only 19 years old and the crowd favorite. Adeline came out very confident and took it to Yeats, throwing her for 3 points and scoring in another takedown to win the 1st period 4–0. In the second period, Adeline stayed in control and secured a takedown late in the period, then put Yeats on her back with her signature arm-bar-wing and pinned her with 4 seconds left for a dominating win.[citation needed]

Gray competed in the 75 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she won her first match against Andrea Olaya of Colombia,[10] but lost her quarterfinal match against Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus.[11]

Gray spent the 2017 season recuperating from injuries, missing the 2017 World Championships.[12]

She returned from her injuries in 2018, winning gold at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships. In 2019, she won gold at the 2019 Pan American Wrestling Championships. Later that year, she won her fifth gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships, becoming the first American wrestler to win five golds at the World Championships.[13] She won silver at the 2020 Pan American Wrestling Championships, winning her first two matches, before withdrawing from her gold medal match against Justina Di Stasio of Canada due to rib fractures.[8]

At the 2020 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials, Gray defeated Kylie Welker by technical superiority twice, qualifying to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14] In her opening bout, she won by fall against 2020 African Wrestling Championships gold medalist Zaineb Sghaier.[15] In the quarterfinals, she defeated former world champion and four-time European champion Yasemin Adar by a score of 6–4.[16] In the semifinals, she defeated two-time Asian Wrestling Championships finalist Aiperi Medet Kyzy by a score of 3–2.[17] She was awarded a silver medal after being defeated by former world champion Aline Rotter-Focken by a score of 7–3 in the gold medal match.[18]

In 2021, she won the gold medal in the women's 76 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway.[19][20] Gray won one of the bronze medals in the women's 76 kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. She defeated Milaimys Marín of Cuba in her bronze medal match.

Endorsements

Gray is the first female wrestler to have her own signature shoe. The ASICS Aggressor 3 L.E. Adeline Gray[21] wrestling shoe is a special edition signature shoe designed by Adeline.

Personal life

Outside of competing, and while women's wrestling was created to combat sexism and receives an extraordinary amount of support from the institution of wrestling, Gray has been wrestling the bigger issues of sexism, and promoting equal recognition and participation on the elite levels, including Olympic and collegiate level wrestling.[22][23]

International matches

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2021 World Champion
Win 52-5 Estonia Epp Mae Fall (6-4) October 4, 2021 2021 World Wrestling Championships Norway Oslo
Win 51-5 Egypt Samar Amer Fall (11-1)
Win 50-5 India Kiran Bishnoi Fall (5-0)
Win 49-5 Turkey Ayşegül Özbege Fall (4-0)
2021 Olympic Silver Medalist
Loss 48-5 Germany Aline Rotter-Focken 7-3 August 2, 2021 2021 Olympic Games Japan Tokyo
Win 48-4 Kyrgyzstan Aiperi Medet Kyzy 3-2
Win 47-4 Turkey Yasemin Adar 6-4
Win 46-4 Tunisia Zaineb Sghaier Fall 2:11
2021 Pan American Champion
Win 45-4 Brazil Aline Ferreira 8-0 May 27, 2021 2021 Pan American Wrestling Championships Guatemala Guatemala City
Win 44-4 Colombia Luisa Mosquera Forfeit (0-0)
Win 43-4 El Salvador Josselyn Portillo Fall (4-0)
Win 42-4 Ecuador Genesis Reasco Valdez Tech Fall (12-2)
2020 Pan American Silver Medalist
Loss 41-4 Canada Justina Di Stasio Injury default (0-0) March 14, 2020 2020 Pan American Wrestling Championships Canada Ottawa
Win 41–3 Colombia Andrea Olaya Tech Fall (11–0)
Win 40–3 Venezuela Andrimar Daniela Lazaro Diaz 2–0
2019 World Champion
Win 39–3 Japan Hiroe Minagawa 4–2 September 19, 2019 2019 World Championships Kazakhstan Nur-Sultan
Win 38–3 Germany Aline Rotter-Focken 5–2 September 18, 2019
Win 37–3 Chinese Taipei Chang Hui-tsz Tech Fall (10–0)
Win 36–3 Kazakhstan Elmira Syzdykova Tech Fall (10–0)
Win 35–3 Italy Eleni Pjollaj Tech Fall (10–0)
2019 Pan American Champion
Win 34–3 Ecuador Genesis Reasco Valdez Fall April 21, 2019 2019 Pan American Wrestling Championships Argentina Buenos Aires
Win 33–3 Cuba Mabelkis Capote Tech Fall (10–0)
Win 32–3 Canada Erica Wiebe Tech Fall (10–0)
Win 31–3 Venezuela María Acosta Tech Fall (10–0)
2018 World Champion
Win 30–3 Turkey Yasemin Adar Tech Fall (13–1) October 24, 2018 2018 World Championships Hungary Budapest
Win 29–3 Canada Erica Wiebe 3–1 October 23, 2018
Win 28–3 Kazakhstan Elmira Syzdykova Fall
Win 27–3 Estonia Epp Mäe Tech Fall (10–0)
2018 Pan American Champion
Win 26-2 Colombia Andrea Olaya Fall (10-1) May 3, 2018 2018 Pan-American Wrestling Championships Peru Lima
Win 25–2 Brazil Aline Ferreira Fall (4-0)
Win 24–2 Cuba Mabelkis Capote Fall (4-0)
2016 Summer Olympics
Loss 23–3 Belarus Vasilisa Marzaliuk 1–4 August 18, 2016 2016 Summer Olympics Brazil Rio de Janeiro
Win 23–2 Colombia Andrea Olaya Fall
2015 World Champion
Win 22–2 China Zhou Qian Tech Fall (13–2) September 10, 2015 2015 World Championships United States Las Vegas, NV
Win 21–2 Brazil Aline Ferreira 10–2
Win 20–2 Poland Daria Osocka Tech Fall (10–0)
Win 19–2 Belarus Vasilisa Marzaliuk 6–0
Win 18–2 Mongolia Gelegjamtsyn Naranchimeg Tech Fall (10–0)
2015 Pan American Games
Win 17–2 Canada Justina Di Stasio 7–6 July 17, 2015 2015 Pan American Games Champion Canada Toronto, ON
Win 16–2 Puerto Rico Ana Gonzalez Tech Fall (12–0)
Win 15–2 Brazil Aline Ferreira Tech Fall (10–0)
2014 World Champion
Win 14–2 Brazil Aline Ferreira 2–1 September 11, 2014 2014 World Championship Uzbekistan Tashkent
Win 13–2 Estonia Epp Mäe 5–1
Win 12–2 Japan Hiroe Suzuki 2–1
Win 11–2 Turkey Yasemin Adar Fall
Win 10–2 China Zhou Qian 11–10
2013 World Bronze Medalist
Win 9–2 Turkey Yasemin Adar 8–2 September 20, 2013 2013 World Championship Hungary Budapest
Win 8–2 Kazakhstan Guzel Manyurova 2–1
Loss 7–2 China Zhang Fengliu 2–1
Win 7–1 Colombia Andrea Olaya Fall
2012 World Champion
Win 6–1 Canada Dorothy Yeats Fall September 26, 2012 2012 World Championship Canada Strathcona County, AL
Win 5–1 India Navjot Kaur Fall
Win 4–1 Japan Yoshiko Inoue 1–1, 3–0
Win 3–1 Bulgaria Dzhanan Manolova 2–0, 3–0
2011 World Bronze Medalist
Win 2–1 Turkey Burcu Örskaya 1–0, 1–0 September 16, 2011 2011 World Championship Turkey Istanbul
Win 1–1 Canada Martine Dugrenier 1–1, 3–1
Loss 0–1 China Xiluo Zhuoma 1–4, 0–1

References

  1. ^ a b "Adeline Gray Biography". asicsamerica.com. ASICS America Corporation. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Adeline Gray the best American wrestler Biography". teamusa.org. United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on January 21, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Magallanes, Lydia (November 16, 2018). "Fort Polk spouse wins fourth women's world wrestling title". kalb.com.
  4. ^ "ADELINE GRAY". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Brunt, Cliff (August 2, 2021). "USA's Gray loses 76kg final to Germany's Rotter-Focken". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  6. ^ Burke, Patrick (October 6, 2021). "Adelaine Maria Gray wins sixth title at Wrestling World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Adeline Gray Biography". Team USA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Zaccardi, Nick (October 10, 2020). "Adeline Gray wrestles after 6 months away. Her sister wrestles for the first time in 9 years". NBCSports.com.
  9. ^ mathieu (October 4, 2012). "Interview: Adeline Gray (USA) World Champion and World University Champion". FISU. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  10. ^ Mendola, Nicholas (August 18, 2016). "Trio of USA women wrestlers win opening Olympic battles, move on".
  11. ^ Mendola, Nicholas (August 18, 2016). "Two American women to wrestle for medals; Maroulis will go for gold".
  12. ^ Adeline Gray to take 2017 season to recover from injuries Team USA
  13. ^ Meyer, John (September 19, 2019). "Denver's Adeline Gray becomes first American wrestler to win five world titles". DenverPost.com.
  14. ^ Azzi, Alex (April 4, 2021). "Maroulis and Gray lead stacked U.S. women's wrestling team to Tokyo". NBCSports.com.
  15. ^ "Wrestling - GRAY Adeline Maria vs SGHAIER Zaineb - 1/8 Final Results". Olympics.com.
  16. ^ "Wrestling - GRAY Adeline Maria vs ADAR Yasemin - 1/4 Final Results". Olympics.com.
  17. ^ "Wrestling - GRAY Adeline Maria vs MEDET KYZY Aiperi - Semifinal Results". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  18. ^ Reiner, Olivia. "USA's Adeline Gray wins silver in wrestling for her first Olympic medal". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  19. ^ Price, Karen (October 6, 2021). "Adeline Gray Makes History With Record Sixth Wrestling World Title". Team USA. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  20. ^ "2021 World Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  21. ^ "Aggressor 3 L.E. AG | Men | Black/Onyx/Pink Glow | ASICS US". Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  22. ^ Pilon, Mary (August 9, 2016). "How This Female Olympic Wrestler Is Pinning Sexism to the Mat". Fortune.com.
  23. ^ Longman, Molly (August 3, 2021). "'We're Not At Equal Opportunities Yet': Olympian Adeline Gray On The Gender Gap In Wrestling". refinery29.com.

External links

World Champions in women's heavyweight (76 kg)
Categories