23-year-old Esther Kolawole has won a gold medal at the 2025 Spanish Wrestling Grand Prix after defeating American wrestler Haylie Jaffe 10-0 by superiority in the final in Madrid on July 6, 2025.
Esther Kolawole, a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier, displayed remarkable dominance throughout the tournament. She breezed past Spain’s Lydia Perez 10-0 in the quarter-finals and followed it up with a gritty 4-1 semifinal victory over Poland’s Alicja Nowosad before capping it off with an emphatic win over Jaffe.
This gold marks a major progression for Kolawole, who won bronze at the same competition in 2023. Her latest triumph is a testament to her continued development and growing presence on the global stage.
The African champion is using the Spanish Grand Prix — held from July 4 to 7 (2025) — as a preparatory event ahead of the World Wrestling Ranking Series scheduled for July 14 in Budapest, Hungary. Both tournaments are part of her build-up to the 2025 World Wrestling Championships in Croatia in September.
Kolawole’s gold follows her previous bronze in Madrid, while compatriot Ogunsanya Christinah also secured bronze in the 53 kg category.
