Former Olympic wrestling champion Kyle Snyder has released a statement saying he would focus on “Lord Jesus and my family” after his arrest in a prostitution sting operation last week.
The Rio 2016 gold medallist was arrested for engaging in prostitution in a sting in Columbus, Ohio, last Friday.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his arrest, he posted on X, “I want to thank everyone who has reached out with kindness and support. My focus is on my relationship with the Lord Jesus and my family. This is not [the] conclusion of my journey.”
He ended the post with, “1 Peter 4:17-18”, a Bible passage which reads, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
Columbus police spokesperson Caitlyn McIntosh said Snyder had responded to an online advert posted by the force soliciting people “to engage in sexual activity for hire”, and arranged to meet an undercover officer at a local hotel, where he paid them money and requested sexual services.
He was arrested in a hotel room before being released, with a court appearance scheduled for Monday 19 May.
15 other men were also caught in the operation, Columbus police said.
Snyder became the youngest American wrestler to win Olympic gold when he was still at college, aged 20, during the 2016 Rio Games.
The 29-year-old has also won three world titles and is a silver medallist from the Tokyo Olympics, as well as a three-time NCAA heavyweight champion at Ohio State.
He was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition by Donald Trump on a two-year term in 2018.
Shortly before his arrest he was announced as part of the Real American Freestyle wrestling league line-up. Fronted by Hulk Hogan, the league’s first event is scheduled for 30 August in Cleveland.
