When it comes to the rivalry between American wrestler Kyle Snyder and Russian champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev, competition has not gotten in the way of genuine mutual respect.
Sadulaev revealed this week that Snyder personally wrote a petition to the International Olympic Committee, urging the body to allow the Russian wrestler to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“Kyle wrote a petition to the IOC for me. Not everyone would do that, especially when you’re talking about someone who could beat you at the Olympics,” Sadulaev said during an interview.
For Sadulaev, the significance of the gesture comes from its context: an athlete going to bat for a direct rival, one who had already gotten the better of him at the Olympic level.
“Not everyone does that. Especially when you see that a competitor can beat you at the Olympics and still do something like that, it means a lot. That’s why I respect Kyle and love him,” Sadulaev said.
He went further still in his praise of Snyder’s character. “His human qualities are much better than his athletic ones.”
The IOC provisionally lifted its ban on Russian athletes just two days ago, a move that could put the two rivals back on a collision course at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Russia’s absence from Paris meant one more Olympics had passed without their meeting under full competitive conditions.
“Finally, the IOC made the right decision. We lost so much time. Our team missed one Olympics. Sports should be outside politics,” Sadulaev said.
Before any Olympic reunion, the two are set to face off at the RAF event in Tbilisi, Georgia. The upcoming bout will mark their fifth career meeting, with Sadulaev holding a 3-1 edge in the head-to-head series.
