Jamilah McBryde earned a shot at the 2024 Olympics in women’s wrestling, but her efforts were pinned by the same uniform rule that took down her sister’s quest in 2022 to compete at the Pan-American Championships in Mexico.
USA Wrestling and United World Wrestling refused to allow McBryde, 21, of Buffalo, New York, to wrestle in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials April 19-20 at Penn State, after McBryde informed officials she would compete in the uniform she regularly wears, not the required form-fitting singlet that she said violates her religious beliefs about dressing modestly.
“It feels like an opportunity that was ripped away because I met the qualifying standard to be able to compete. I won nationals, and if you win nationals, you automatically qualify to compete,” said McBryde, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer information management and a master’s degree in psychology at Life University in Marietta, Ga. “And if I could have, I would have been there. It does feel stolen.”
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McBryde, a devout Muslim, was able to wrestle competitively in college in a modified uniform that loosely covers her arms, legs, neck, and head. She said she would not consider wrestling in a singlet.
“That’s not even a question,” she said.
In March, she won the NAIA Women’s Wrestling Championship finals at 143 pounds in the modified uniform, qualifying her for the Olympic trials.
United World Wrestling, the international governing body for men’s and women’s wrestling, including the Olympics, requires that competitors wear a standard form-fitting singlet that leaves the arms, legs, shoulders, and head exposed.
McBryde’s younger sister, Latifah, faced the same uniform restriction two years ago and bowed out of the Pan-American Championships.
In 2022, a UWW official said Latifah McBryde’s request for a waiver to wear apparel that conformed with Muslim modesty standards was the first of its kind to UWW. The official also said the modified uniform needed to be broadly tested in lower-level competitions to determine if there are any competitive disadvantages to opponents – even though a “classic style” uniform that’s very similar to what the McBrydes wear has been regularly used in UWW women’s wrestling events in Iran, a predominantly Muslim nation, since 2017.
The McBryde sisters – Jamilah, Latifah, 19, and Zaynah, 17 – all attend Life University and combined have wrestled in more than 200 matches, with no complaints from opponents about any competitive advantages due to their modified uniforms, said their father, Mustafa McBryde, a former high school and collegiate wrestler.
McBryde said he was proud of his daughters for sticking to their convictions, and he criticized USA Wrestling for not doing more to push back against a UWW rule that he said discriminates by religion.
In response to a Buffalo News inquiry, a spokesman for USA Wrestling emailed a statement, saying that the organization’s hands were tied by the rules of international wrestling.
“USA Wrestling requires that anyone competing at this month’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials and other U.S. team trials events follow UWW rules to ensure our athletes are eligible to compete at UWW events,” the statement said. “USA Wrestling believes that our sport should be open to everyone, and in past non-Olympic events under our jurisdiction, we have allowed Muslim wrestlers – including Jamilah McBryde – to wear full-body uniforms to conform with the requirements of their religion. Our diversity, equity and inclusion committee has appointed a subcommittee to evaluate how our sport can be even more inclusive to Muslim women and we look forward to sharing our findings with our members and the UWW.”
Officials for UWW, which is based in Switzerland, did not respond to an email from The Buffalo News.
Jamilah McBryde filed an opportunity to participate complaint seeking a formal hearing with USA Wrestling prior to the Olympic trials.
The Amateur Sports Act mandates that national sports governing bodies, including USA Wrestling, provide equal opportunity for athletes and prohibits them from discrimination by race, religion, sex, age, and national origin, said attorney Hyder Syed, who is representing Jamilah McBryde.
“When UWW tries to dictate to USA Wrestling a certain type of uniform, that’s between USA Wrestling and UWW, but that doesn’t excuse USA Wrestling from adhering to its own legal obligations in the United States,” Syed said.
USA Wrestling said UWW hadn’t changed its uniform requirement. UWW also indicated in a letter that it had conducted a test in 2023 in Turkey with two wrestlers, one in a singlet, the other in a classic style uniform, and determined that there was an advantage to the classic style uniform, according to Syed and McBryde.
Syed called the USA Wrestling hearing a “paper exercise for them,” and said the organization made up its mind on the issue before listening to McBryde.
McBryde said there was no scientific rigor to the test described in the UWW letter, and she said UWW has had ample opportunity to examine the issue more closely.
“Just to have two people wrestle once. That does not prove anything,” she said.
Wrestlers in training constantly grapple with each other in sweatpants and long-sleeve shirts, she added.
“It doesn’t change wrestling at all. It doesn’t change the sport,” McBryde said. “You can go into any wrestling room in America, and you’ll see no one wrestles in singlets.”
Syed and McBryde expect to file a separate complaint with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
McBryde would have had to place in the top two in her weight class at the trials to earn a spot on the Olympic team. She had previously beaten a wrestler who placed fourth in the challenge round of the trials, she said.
She is concerned she won’t get the opportunity again, given that she only has two years of college eligibility remaining and the next Olympics isn’t until 2028.
She and her sisters also are now worried that they won’t be able to compete in any future USA Wrestling qualifying tournaments.
“In the long term, I hope that we can get it changed so that not just myself or not just Latifah and Zaynah are able to compete, but every woman has the opportunity,” McBryde said. “There are a lot of young girls I see who dream of this opportunity. To know they, or my daughters, potentially, could not ever have that opportunity is something that I think is the bigger reason to fight for.”