Former Ohio State and Olympic champion wrestler Kyle Snyder has been suspended by the U.S. Center for SafeSport following his arrest on May 9 for soliciting a prostitute.
Snyder qualified for Final X in the 2025 U.S. World Team qualification on June 14 in Newark, New Jersey, after winning the U.S. Open on April 26 in the 97-kilogram division. It’s unknown what the timeline is for SafeSport to decide whether to end Snyder’s suspension.
If Snyder is eligible for Final X, his opponent will be determined by the winner of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament on May 16-17. If Snyder is not, the winner of the challenge tournament will represent the United States.
The U.S. Center for Safesport is an independent, non-profit organization responsible for responding to and preventing emotional, physical, and sexual misconduct and abuse in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement.
Snyder, 29, was one of 16 men arrested at a Quality Inn and Suites on the far north side of Columbus. He was charged with solicitation after he answered an online ad for escort services and paid $160 in cash to an undercover police officer for a sex act. Snyder has a May 19 court date.
Snyder won NCAA heavyweight championships representing Ohio State in 2016, ’17 and ’18. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games, becoming the youngest wrestler to win the NCAA, world and Olympics in the same year. Snyder won the silver medal in the 2021 games in Tokyo. Snyder finished fourth last year in the Paris Olympics.
He was inducted into the OSU athletics Hall of Fame last year.
After Snyder’s arrest, he issued a statement on X.
“I want to thank everyone who has reached out with kindness and support,” Snyder wrote. “My focus is on my relationship with the Lord Jesus and my family. This is not conclusion of my journey. 1 Peter 4:17-18.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former OSU, Olympic champion wrestler Kyle Snyder suspended after solicitation arrest
Reporting by Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
