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ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø wrestler Steyn De Lange made history in his home country of South Africa by ending the country's 16-year Olympic drought by qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. 

"Going to the Olympics, it's always been a big goal, but it's always been this abstract thing like, maybe one day I can go and maybe a couple of years ago it was finally like, well maybe it is possible, maybe it is an achievable goal," says De Lange. 

De Lange will make his Olympic debut after having a stellar showing at the second continental qualifier for the Paris Olympic Games held in Alexandria. De Lange started his chase to the Olympics at the 2024 Seniors African and Oceania OG Qualifier by taking down Pape Ndiaye of Senegal. Following the win, De Lange captured the bid to Paris by taking down two-time Olympian Mohamed Saadaoui of Tunisia, securing the first place finish in the African and Oceanic region. 

"It's always been this almost unobtainable goal; I'm the first South African in 16 years to actually qualify which is pretty big," says De Lange. 

While making history in his home country of South Africa, the Broncs sophomore also becomes ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø's first wrestling Olympian in program history.

"He's a pioneer for our program being the first-ever Olympic qualifier. What an accomplishment for Steyn," says ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Wrestling Head Coach John Hangey. "Every wrestler dreams of wrestling in the Olympics someday, and Steyn gets to live that dream."  

De Lange made waves on the international stage before qualifying for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games by competing on a global stage earlier this year. He represented South Africa at the United World Wrestling (UWW) Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in freestyle competition, becoming the first Bronc to compete at the global event. 

"I got to compete against the top guys in the world; last year, I wrestled a two-time Olympic Champion, a multiple-time World Champion," says De Lange "I felt good against him; didn't win it, but that experience to wrestle against the top of the top is important to learn how to deal with that." 

De Lange has already created a stellar international resume. In 2022, he won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Great Britain and a bronze medal at the 2021 Junior World Championships, while also being a two-time African Gold medalist. De Lange is excited to represent his native country of South Africa and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø on the biggest stage in the sport.

"It's going to be a spectacular experience. Getting a chance to be in that big of an atmosphere is indescribable in a way," says De Lange "I have this sense of pride going in to represent on that big of a stage."