Finally. That’s the word to best sum up Jayden Lawrence’s journey to the Olympic Games.
After missing qualification for London, Rio and Tokyo, he finally achieved his childhood dream by winning the 2024 African and Oceania Olympic Game Qualifier to secure a spot for Paris.
Jayden went through the 86kg freestyle event in Egypt undefeated, vanquishing the demons of past Olympic qualifying tournaments from 2012 and 2021.
He says the moment of qualification brought back memories of a conversation he had with his father when he was just nine years old.
“All I could think of was me going to ask my Dad if I could wrestle,” he said.
“It stuck with me in that match and what I've gone through; all the injuries and surgeries.
“It pushed me over the line with more determination and to get my head right. It was a dream come true.”
The three years leading into his 2024 Olympic qualification were filled with success for Jayden.
In 2022, he broke through for Australia’s first wrestling medal at the Commonwealth Games in 12-years by winning bronze in Birmingham, heroically, doing so with a torn lateral collateral ligament in his knee.
He then went undefeated over two years in 2023 and 2024 in the Oceania Championships, claiming back-to-back titles.
Jayden comes into his first Olympics ranked 31st in the world having seven wins to one defeat in 2024.
He has an eye on becoming the first Australian to win an Olympic wrestling medal since Dick Garrard and Jim Armstrong won silver and bronze in London 1944.
“I've done these big stages before,” he said.
“I’ve done the Commonwealth Games and back in the day I did a Youth Olympics.
“I'm going to give my absolute 100% best, that's my big game.”
While Jayden won’t compete until the very end of the Olympic schedule, he is making sure to experience everything he can at the Games.
“One of the biggest drives for me when I was younger for the Olympics was to watch the Opening Ceremony and thinking I want to be in that,” he said.
“So I'm actually going to be flying in for it and out to go train again before I compete.”
He is joined in Paris by Georgii Okorokov (65kg freestyle), with the pair the first Australian wrestlers to qualify for the Olympics since Rio in 2016.
As well as having high hopes for himself, Jayden is predicting big things for Georgii.
“He is one of the most talented athletes we have in Australia,” Jayden said.
“I’m so glad he's on our team. He's going to do really well in Paris.”
The men’s 86kg freestyle begins at the Champ-de-Mars Arena on 8 August at 7.30pm AEST.
This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here
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