Pat Downey contemplating to wrestle for Ireland in upcoming 2024 Olympic cycle
The controversial Pat Downey III told The Sun that he intends to wrestle for Ireland at the 2024 Olympic Games. Downey, who is an Iowa State alumna, didn’t make the cut on the 2020 United States Olympic team and is taking a different route to the Olympics.
Downey told The Sun that his father is Irish and that he and his father have been looking into applying for a dual citizenship for Ireland and has his sights set on the Greco-Roman team for Ireland.
“Right now, we’re just sending in paperwork. I would actually have to head over to Ireland try to incorporate if I were to ever fight there – they say the end of September – I would try build in the ability to stay there [Ireland] to meet with the necessary people to expedite the process.”
Pat Downey and His Path to the Olympics
Pat Downey wrestles at 86 kilograms which is one of the toughest divisions to make for Team USA. Names in the division include J’Den Cox, Bo Nickal and David Taylor, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Downey was put away by Bo Nickal by a score of 13-3. Downey has gone on to no-show Stalemates on a show he was contracted to wrestle at.
Downey is no stranger to controversy either. In July of 2020, Downey made comments about women’s and Greco-Roman wrestling calling both “boring ass shit.” The fallout caused the New Jersey Regional Training Center and Paradigm Sports Management to drop him as a client and wrestler. Downey also had issues in high school having an incident where he broke a jaw of one student and knocked out four of his teeth.
Pat Downey makes his Bellator and MMA debut at Bellator 284. With all his past issues, it’s unclear if Ireland will even want him on their Olympic team.
