Olympic champion David Taylor accepts bid to compete at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships

Just two months after winning Olympic gold, State College resident David Taylor will be back on the global stage.

As the 2021 Olympic champion at 86 kilograms in men’s freestyle wrestling, Taylor received an automatic bid to the World Championships from Oct. 2-10 in Oslo, Norway. He has accepted that bid, USA Wrestling announced Thursday.

Along with Taylor, other Olympic medalists Kyle Snyder (silver at 97 kg in men’s freestyle), Helen Maroulis (bronze at 57 kg in women’s freestyle) and Kyle Dake (bronze at 76 kg in men’s freestyle) have also confirmed their places on the 2021 World Team.

Olympic medalists Gable Steveson (gold 125 kg in men’s freestyle), Tamyra Mensah Stock (gold at 68 kg in women’s freestyle), Adeline Gray (silver at 76 kg in women’s freestyle), Thomas Gilman (bronze at 57 kg in men’s freestyle) and Sarah Hildebrandt (bronze at 50 kg in women’s freestyle) have yet to inform USA Wrestling of their decisions. The deadline is Sunday.

Gilman, who trains at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club in State College along with Taylor and Snyder, revealed after his final match in Tokyo that he had been wrestling on an injured foot since trials in April.

Taylor’s last appearance at the World Championships was in 2018, when he won gold. He was unable to compete in 2019, after injuring his knee that spring, and USA Wrestling decided not to send a team amid the pandemic in 2020. The former two-time Hodge Trophy winner and two-time NCAA champ for Penn State has not lost an official match since 2017.

With Taylor accepting his bid, 86 kg will not be contested at the upcoming World Team Trials in Nebraska in September. That means other former and current Nittany Lions who are qualified to compete at that weight — Bo Nickal, Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci — would have to change weights if they want to make the team.