Women’s wrestler Audrey Jimenez extends world medal streak

In August, sophomore Audrey Jimenez marked her fifth career world medal, earning silver at the U20 World Championships in Bulgaria. 

Jimenez was one of three U.S women to reach the semifinals at the U20s, advancing to the finals for the third time in her career.

Now, she is focusing on the Senior World Championships scheduled for Saturday through Sept. 21 in Zagreb, Croatia. Then, she’ll look toward the U23 World Championships held in October in Novi Sad, Serbia. 

Throughout her wrestling journey thus far, Jimenez has collected hardware at nearly every level, from her U23 World Championships silver medal in Tirana, Albania, to her U20 World Championships silver medal in Amman, Jordan.

After finishing her spring semester, she trained in her home town of Tucson, Arizona before traveling back to Lehigh for a week of preparation. She then headed to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado to continue her hard work.

Jimenez said her biggest takeaway from her training this summer was learning the value of a routine. 

“If I’m being honest, I was all over the place this summer, from the East Coast to Colorado,” Jimenez said. “When I got to Bulgaria for U20s, I had four days to acclimate before I wrestled.”

At that U20 championship, Jimenez finished second in the world in the 50kg weight class.

First-year wrestler Mary Manis competed alongside Jimenez in Bulgaria, representing Greece’s team. 

Manis said that through training and traveling alongside Jimenez, she has gained a stronger sense of appreciation for how her teammate competes.

She also said she enjoyed watching Jimenez’s pre-match routines and procedures.

“I think she’s definitely a very aggressive, confident wrestler,” Manis said. “Being able to warm up in the same venue, and watching her pre-match routine, like journaling, was really cool for me.”

Despite the quick turnaround from earning her silver medal, Jimenez is still looking forward, keeping her eyes set on the U.S. Wrestling Seniors held throughout September and October.

“This competition I definitely want to win — I don’t think it’s something too far away,” Jimenez said. “There are many great competitors, especially at this level. I am really excited to get out there.”

For years Jimenez has trained at the Colorado Spring Olympic Training Center during week-long camps, surrounded by top-level and Olympic athletes with similar goals. She said the center has great resources available and that she loves the coaching.

“Everyone there has the same goal, we all want to win worlds,” Jimenez said. “We all want to win the Olympics.” 

First-year Abbi Cooper also competed for Team USA at the U20 worlds and was Jimenez’s training partner. She placed fifth for Team USA at her first ever international tournament.

 Cooper said working with Jimenez helped her improve her own skills on the mat.

“I really like working with (Jimenez), because she’s smaller and quicker, and it helped me get a feel for my competition more,” she said.

Cooper also said Jimenez is super dominant in her matches.

“She’s a dog,” Cooper said. “Her first match was like 10 seconds, she just took the girl down, laced her legs, and it was over.”

Beyond her skills on the mat, Cooper said Jimenez’s strong work ethic will set her apart from others going into the Seniors and U23 championships.

“She works really hard every single practice, every single event, and she does a lot of extra things off the mat,” Cooper said. “She just has a really positive attitude all the time, and I feel like that makes her different.”

Jimenez will make her Senior World Championship debut on Saturday.