‘In Illinois, Everyone Knew The Blades Sisters’: In Paris, Kennedy Blades Is Ready To Introduce Herself To The World
Blades defeated six-time world champion Adeline Gray to make her first Olympic team, and now she’s aiming for more.
2
GOLD
1
SILVER
1
BRONZE
Athlete Bio#
Age
64
Hometown
Haledon, NJ
Education
Manchester Regional High School (Haledon, N.J.) Indiana State University, Oklahoma State University
Personal
Son of Lois and Robert Baumgartner...Father was a diesel mechanic...Was too large to play peewee football and didn’t find Little League baseball interesting, so turned to wrestling...Competed in high school Wrestling but didn’t win the state title in New Jersey and therefore did not get recruited by top collegiate Wrestling programs...Won 86 of 87 matches during his last two years at Indiana State University...Received his master’s degree in Industrial Arts Education from Oklahoma State University...Coached Wrestling at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania before becoming the school’s athletic director...Father to two sons, Bryan and Zachary.Olympic Experience
- 4-time Olympian; 4-time Olympic medalist (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, bronze (120kg - Men)
- Olympic Games Barcelona 1992, gold (120kg - Men)
- Olympic Games Seoul 1988, silver (120kg - Men)
- Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984, gold (120kg - Men)
World Championships Experience
- Most recent: 1995 – gold (120kg - Men)
- Years of participation: 120kg - Men 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995
- Medals: 9 (3 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze)
- Gold – 1995 (120kg - Men); 1993 (120kg - Men); 1986 (120kg - Men)
- Silver – 1994 (120kg - Men); 1990 (120kg - Men); 1989 (120kg - Men)
- Bronze – 1987 (120kg - Men); 1985 (120kg - Men); 1983 (120kg - Men)
Hall Of Fame Bio #
Bruce Baumgartner is a four-time Olympian and four-time Olympic medalist. He was one of the world’s most dominant wrestlers between 1983 and 1996, winning a combined 13 world and Olympic medals. Born in Haledon, New Jersey, Baumgartner won his first world championship medal in 1983. The following year, at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984, he won the gold medal in freestyle. Over the next 13 years, Baumgartner would medal at every Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and in nine world championships. In total, he won two Olympic gold medals, three world championships and three Pan American Games. After his competitive wrestling career, Baumgartner served as an athletic director at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and the president of USA Wrestling. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the International Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.
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