Army Spc. Kamal Bey celebrates after he won the 77 kilogram gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023. Bey will be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Nate Garcia/U.S. Army)

Most people would be inconsolable after missing out on an Olympic berth.

Yet Spc. Kamal Bey didn’t worry too much after dropping an Olympic playoff match at 77 kilograms during the United World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul on May 9-12.

Bey had powered his way through the consolation bracket to set up the matchup against Hungary’s Zoltan Levai for the last Olympic spot.

After losing that match 3-0, the culinary specialist in the Army’s World Class Program just waited for potential good news. And he received it on June 27 after an Individual Neutral Athlete, or an athlete who has a Russian or Belarussian passport and has qualified for the Paris Games, didn’t accept the berth.

“I knew I was right there, so I knew if someone ended up either failing a drug test or someone was ineligible, then I would be the next athlete,” Bey said. “The emotions I felt once I got the spot were excitement, relief and immediately focused because now we have to get after it.”

Despite the late addition, both Bey and assistant wrestling coach Spenser Mango expressed the belief he can compete for gold Aug. 6-7 at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Bey currently is ranked 13th in the world according to UWW, and he is the U.S. Olympic trials champion.

His record this year on the world circuit hasn’t been stellar. Bey is 6-4 over three tournaments with a third-place finish at the Seniors Pan-American Championships on Feb. 21-24 in Acapulco, Mexico, and a fourth-place finish in Istanbul.

It’s a far cry from Bey’s 2023 campaign. The 26-year-old grappler went 14-4 and won both the Pan-American Championships in Las Vegas and the Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile.

Bey also is a six-time U.S. Open winner.

“He’s a generational talent,” Mango said of Bey. “He can do things that other people can’t. He’s one heck of an athlete, and I’m excited to see how the Olympics pan out.

“I believe Kamal Bey, when he wrestles at his best, can beat anybody in that bracket.”

Bey’s already proven himself capable of defeating one of the top wrestlers in his bracket. During the 2023 Pan-American Games, the American took down Cuban Yosvanys Pena Flores, currently No. 5 in the weight class, twice – the first a 2-1 decision at the Senior Pan-American Championships and then a 4-3 victory at the Pan-American Games.

He started to wrestle at the age of 3, eventually entered the junior world circuit and won a junior world crown in 2018.

Army Spc. Kamal Bey pins Air Force Senior Airman Samuel Adams during the Greco-Roman style wrestling portion of the 2024 Armed Forces Wrestling Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo. March 2, 2024. Bey will be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. (EJ Hersom/Defense Department)

Bey joined the Army in May 2021 and entered the WCAP program. Under the tutelage of Mango and others, Bey said he noticed the difference in his results immediately between the training and the strategy.

“I already was sort of a big name before I got into the program in Greco-Roman wrestling, but to be competitive and be consistent, my consistency wasn’t the same,” Bey said. “I had the explosiveness, I had the strength, I had the athletic ability, but they definitely honed me into a fine-edge sword.”

Bey said his defense when he’s in the down position is one of his strengths. He also highlighted an ability to complete lifts when he’s on top.

While he anticipates a good reception from Team USA fans, he also mentioned his pride in being an Olympian feels even greater because of the backing of the Army.

And it would make a medal feel even sweeter.

“It’s great having one, the support of the nation, but it’s really cool having the support of the Armed Forces, the U.S. Army,” Bey said. “The Army’s been nothing but great to me, so the fact that I get to represent them and potentially go out there and win a medal, it would mean the world to me.”