Podcast: Adeline Gray wants to see women's wrestling grow

Adeline Gray of Team USA celebrates a win during the Women's Freestyle 76kg quaretrfinal on day nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall. ( (Photo By Tom Pennington/Getty Images))

On Her Turf

Five-time world champion Adeline Gray has been at the top of the wrestling world for years, and she recently added an Olympic medal to her collection. She catches up with hosts Lolo Jones and Lindsay Czarniak to chat about winning silver in Tokyo and the future of her sport. Journalist Shireen Ahmed also joins On Her Turf for a roundtable discussion on women's athletic uniforms.

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Gray talks about her decision to make another Olympic run after Rio, the progress she's seen in women's wrestling and how much she values her world titles. She adds that many life lessons can be gleaned through wrestling and says "there's nothing wrong with young women learning how strong they can truly be." 

Before she wraps up her time on the podcast, Gray leaves a message to young female wrestlers: "Keep working hard. Set those goals. Have them be process goals, not just outcome goals. I want to make sure that they understand that sports can really be an avenue for you to learn about yourself, to learn how to mentally and physically become stronger and build tools that you can use for the rest of your life." 

Jones and Czarniak then welcome Ahmed to the podcast to have a conversation on who makes the decisions about the attire female athletes wear at the Olympics, the options competitors have if they don't feel comfortable in a designated uniform and how rigid rules surrounding clothing in athletic competitions disproportionately affect women of color. Ahmed encourages fans to continue talking about these issues and emphasizes how "paying attention and realizing that not every experience is the same" can enact change. 

You can listen to more of these conversations on Amazon Music or below:

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