Former Oak Park and River Forest High School student Kamal Bey will compete next week in the 77-kilogram class of the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. It’s the first time that Bey has qualified for the Olympics.
Bey spent three years at OPRF from 2012 through 2015. He played football and wrestled, and helped the Huskies win back-to-back IHSA Class 3A state wrestling championships. Before his senior year, Bey decided to focus on Greco-Roman wrestling and moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to train at the United States Olympic Training Center.
Bey competed in the Junior World Championships between 2016 and 2018, winning the 74-kilogram title in 2017. He also won gold medals at the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Open championships in Las Vegas, the 2019 U.S. national championship in Fort Worth, Texas, the 2023 Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile – all at 77 kilograms.
Bey initially had fallen short in his bid to qualify for this year’s U.S. Olympic team at the World Olympic Games Qualifier, May 10, in Istanbul, Turkey. He lost his opening match, but rallied to win the next three matches. Bey lost in a qualification playoff match to Zoltan Levai of Hungary 3-0, becoming the first alternate.
When United World Wrestling, the sport’s governing body, vacated berths from Individual Neutral Athletes from Belarus and Russia, it opened up a spot on the U.S. team for Bey.
OPRF alum Ellis Coleman, Class of 2009, also made the Olympic team. However, he will not compete because his weight class of 67 kilograms didn’t qualify for Olympic participation.
The Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling tournament takes place August 6-7.