This world champion is tired of being told she's 'too pretty' to wrestle

Did you ever look at Muhammad Ali and think, argh, that man is too nice-looking to box?

No.

Actually, Ali said he was proud of what he called his "pretty face".

That's probably not a sentence you'd get away with as a female athlete - can you imagine - especially when being "pretty" is given as a reason why you should not fight.

Adeline Gray, three times world champion wrestler, has been told more than once she is too hot to risk her face in the ring.

And the US Olympian athlete is so very, very, over it.

I absolutely hate the statement, 'You're too pretty to wrestle'

she told sports site ESPN.

With heavyweight wrestling, people are expecting this Helga type of woman, obese and going out there on the mat to try to smash people's heads.

It's so much more than that - the weight is really low, so it's about technique.

It's skill, strength, power and executing that in a very precise way.

Happily, the champion says that things are changing now and women can be considered both beautiful and "badass".

And backing her all the way has been her father, who got over the "shock" of four daughters to discover there was an elite sportswoman among them.

Knock 'em out, Gray. We at indy100 salute you.

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