Supporting US Olympians
Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is on a mission to help the current generation of US Olympians, specifically the men’s and women’s wrestling teams. Unlike many other countries, the United States does not pay its Olympic athletes to train and compete full-time. As a result, many USA athletes must take on jobs outside of their training schedule to stay financially afloat.
Partnership with USA Wrestling
According to Angle, the money raised through his partnership with USA Wrestling will be enough for the wrestlers to cover their expenses during their training for the 2028 Olympics. In a new interview with WrestleZone’s Managing Editor Bill Pritchard, Angle revealed that USA Wrestling is providing additional incentives for the athletes.
Financial Stipends and Incentives
“They’re giving a stipend to the top three athletes in each weight class. That’s already done. That’s taken care of,” Angle said. “It’s not a lot of money. It’s enough for them to get by, but it’s enough so they don’t have to get a job. But the incentive is if they win the world championships, they get $50,000. It’s not a lot of money, but it will help them get through the years of training up until the Olympics. Every bit of money counts.
“If you take second, I believe it was $25,000 and third is $15,000. So they’re giving them incentives by doing that. That’s why I’m also raising money, so these athletes can get paid if they win a medal at the world championships. They also win money for the Olympics. It’s not a lot. $38,000 for a gold medal, $23,000 for a silver, and $15,000 for a bronze, but it’s money. It’s something that these athletes definitely could use.”
Kurt Angle Reacts to Recent Developments in Women’s NCAA Wrestling:
NCAA Officially Declares Women’s Wrestling as Championship Sport
In January 2025, the NCAA officially recognized women’s wrestling as a championship sport. Divisions I, II, and III approved this at the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The NCAA’s first women’s wrestling championship will take place in 2026. According to Kurt Angle, this development has been a long time coming.
Challenges and Progress Over the Years
When asked about the delay in making this move, Angle explained, “The problem was we didn’t have a lot of colleges that had women’s wrestling. And back 20 years ago, we didn’t have a lot of women participating, so we had to go in stages. The Olympics were first. We had to make sure that was all a done deal. But as far as college, women would start joining the men’s wrestling teams and try to intermingle with them. We didn’t have enough women participating to have NCAA championships for them. Now we do. There are a bunch of programs popping up all over the country for women’s wrestling.”
Title IX and Equal Billing
Angle also highlighted the impact of Title IX on achieving equal billing for women’s teams in college sports. Instead of taking men’s programs away from schools, women’s programs, such as amateur wrestling, are being added.
Praising the Women’s Wrestling Teams
“Wrestling is the greatest sport in the world. It’s the hardest sport in the world,” Angle said. “I would tell you this, the women are tougher than the men. These women are just incredible. You watch them wrestle and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ These girls are badasses. They dominated the Olympics this past Olympics. They won four medals, which is incredible. I believe the freestyle men’s wrestling team won three medals. They did pretty well too. But the women, they have a possible medalist in every single weight class this upcoming Olympics. That’s incredible.”
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