by Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson returns to competitive wrestling for the first time in 17 months and competes at the collegiate level for the first time in two and a half years.
Steveson, 24, announced he will use his fifth and final year of eligibility with the University of Minnesota, for whom he last wrestled in 2022. Steveson won the NCAA heavyweight titles in 2021 and 2022 and was NCAA Wrestler of the Year both years.
“There’s still one thing inside me that still burns,” Steveson said in a video posted Tuesday. “The burning passion, the competitiveness, the desire to become great again and add to Gable Steveson’s legacy.”
Last spring, Steveson signed with the Buffalo Bills as a defensive lineman with the goal of becoming the 16th Olympic gold medalist to appear in an NFL regular-season game. He was cut before the start of the regular season.
Before that, Steveson had not retired from wrestling in 2023 – between two stints with WWE – and had qualified for that year’s world championships, but withdrew less than two weeks before the ‘event.
Steveson has not competed internationally since and has not announced whether he will follow his return to the NCAA in folkstyle by returning to freestyle wrestling at the international level.
In the Tokyo Olympic final, Steveson defeated reigning world champion Geno Petriashvili of Georgia with a last-second takedown to become the second-youngest American wrestling gold medalist in history at age 21 .
He joined Bruce Baumgartner, a star of the ’80s and ’90s, as the only American man to win an Olympic super heavyweight freestyle title.
Abdulrashid Sadulaev defeats David Taylor in World Wrestling Showdown
Olympic gold medalist David Taylor is competing in the final wrestling tournament of his career.
