Olympian Ali Bernard ready to make run at gold medal at 2009 World Championships

Ali Bernard (in blue) battles Jenna Pavlik at the U.S. World Team Trials. Tony Rotundo photo.

The experience of taking part in the 2008 Olympic Games was something Ali Bernard will never forget.

"It was an honor," Bernard said. "All the adrenaline and all the emotion of being in the Olympics, it was an amazing experience. In the parade at the Opening Ceremonies, we walked with the men's basketball team and saw Kobe Bryant and all of those guys. It was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It definitely was a thrill to be a part of it."

One thing was missing from the trip for Bernard.

A medal.

Competing in her first World-level event as a Senior athlete, Bernard fell just short of her goal after finishing fifth in women's freestyle wrestling at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.

Bernard opened her Olympic Games competition by pinning her Nigerian opponent just 44 seconds into her first bout.

"Walking up on the stage for that first match, I was very nervous and emotional," she said. "I was able to settle down after that."

Bernard then met China's Wang Jiao in the quarterfinals. Bernard fought gamely before falling to Jiao, who went on to win an Olympic gold medal.

"I felt like I could've beaten her," Bernard said. "Knowing that, it makes me work hard. I will know what to expect the next time we wrestle."

Bernard came back to beat a wrestler from Sweden in the Repechage before advancing to meet five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan in the bronze-medal match.

Hamaguchi won in two straight periods and Bernard finished fifth.

"It was a tough way to end it," Bernard said. "I was so close to winning a medal."

Bernard jumped right into the 2008-09 college season in Canada following the Olympics. She also won four international events, including the New York AC International and the Henri Deglane Challenge in France. She also won two events in Canada.

She then decided to take a break, and elected to skip April's U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas.

Less than a month before the Trials, Bernard was back on the mat again. She started training for the possibility of competing in the U.S. World Team Trials on May 30-31 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Bernard said she didn't decide she was going to enter the Trials until "three or four days" before the event.

"I wanted to make sure I was ready," she said. "I didn't want to go out there and get my butt kicked."

She did everything but that.

The 23-year-old Bernard looked dominant in rolling to the title at the World Team Trials. She now advances to her first World Championships in September in Herning, Denmark.

Bernard, who grew up in New Ulm, Minn., decided to follow her father, Rocky, and brother, Andy, into the sport of wrestling.

"My dad and my brother, they've had a big impact and a big influence on me," Bernard said. "I appreciate their support."

She was the only girl on her high-school team.

"It was a little rocky in the beginning," she said. "But after the first year, all the guys got used to it."

When she was in high school, Bernard heard the announcement in late 2001 that women's freestyle wrestling was going to be included in the 2004 Olympic Games.

"Ever since then, the Olympics were my goal," she said. "My goal was to make it in 2004, but then I had to reset it for 2008."

Bernard won the U.S. Nationals in 2004, while still in high school, at the non-Olympic weight class of 67 kg/147.5 lbs.

She moved up to the Olympic weight class of 72 kg/158.5 lbs. for the 2004 Olympic Trials. She fell short of placing after winning her first match and losing her next two.

Bernard won Junior World titles in 2003 and 2005, and a Junior World bronze medalist in 2006.

She was recruited to wrestle collegiately in Canada, at the University of Regina.

She's been training in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Among her wrestling training partners and coaches is her boyfriend, Roger Alves.

"I've been training with a lot of guys who are in college," she said. "There aren't a lot of girls in my weight class to train with. I wrestle with guys who are a little smaller, but who are still very strong. It works out well for me."

Bernard has stepped up her workouts since making her first World Team.

"I'm doing 2-a-days now," she said. "I'm trying to work as hard as I can. I'm working on my weak spots and I'm trying to get my cardio back. I'm training as hard as I can to be the best."

Bernard placed second in the World Team Trials in 2005 and third in 2006.

She took the summer off in 2007.

"I had never taken a summer off, or any time off for that matter since I've been wrestling," Bernard said. "I just realized I needed time off. I came back refreshed and liking the sport again."

The break did wonders for Bernard. She came back very strong in 2008. She won a loaded bracket at the U.S. Nationals before beating two-time World bronze medalist Katie Downing to win the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Low-key, laid-back and soft-spoken, Bernard is as competitive as anybody when she steps on the mat.

"I hate losing, I hate it," she said. "I've always wanted to be the best."

Bernard said she would like another shot at wrestling in the Olympics. The 2012 Olympic Games will be in London, England.

She's one of only eight American women's wrestlers in history - four in Athens and four in Beijing - to compete in the Olympics.

"I've definitely thought about the next Olympics, and ideally that's what I'm working for," she said. "But I'm keeping it simple and just taking it day-by-day. I can't look too far ahead right now."

For now, Bernard has her sights set on winning a World title.

"When I made it to the Olympics, at first, I was just happy to make the team. When I got to Beijing, I wanted to win a medal," she said. "I gave it all I had and tried as hard as I could.

"Now I'm ready to go to the World Championships and win a medal and be the top person. My experience at the Olympics has really motivated me to do even better this year.