At 21 years of age, Henry Cejudo shocked the wrestling world by capturing the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to become the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in United States history – a record that stood until 2016 when Kyle Snyder won Olympic gold as a 20-year-old competitor.

Cejudo won a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games, was a three-time gold medalist of the Pan American Championships and captured a bronze medal in the 2007 Wrestling World Cup. He also competed in the World Championships in 2007.

He was a two-time U.S. Open champion and became the first high school wrestler to win the U.S. Nationals in freestyle since USA Wrestling became the sport’s national governing body in 1983.

He won a pair of state high school championships in Arizona before moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to become a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He won Colorado state high school championships as a junior and senior, and was named ASICS National High School Wrestler of the Year in 2006 and was selected to Wrestling USA Magazine’s Dream Team of High School All-Americans.

For his historic accomplishments as the youngest U.S. Olympic gold medalist at that time and the first high school wrestler to win the U.S. Nationals, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honored to induct Henry Cejudo as a Distinguished Member of the Class of 2018.