USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender Receives 2025 George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Rich Bender receives 2025 George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award, pictured alongside Susanne Lyons, Haley Steinbrenner Swindal and William J. Hybl.
USA Wrestling is proud to recognize Rich Bender, its Executive Director of nearly 25 years, as the recipient of the prestigious George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award, which is presented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Endowment as one-of-four annual awards given out by the organization.
The George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award honors individuals who have made sustained and meaningful contributions to sports within the Olympic and Paralympic movements. Recipients of this award demonstrate exceptional communication and leadership skills that personify excellence, advancing sport at both the national and international levels.
Bender is the longest-serving executive director in USA Wrestling history, taking over the position in 2001. Under his leadership, USA Wrestling has earned 33 Olympic medals and well over 100 World Championship medals, and reached historic milestones, including the first U.S. women’s Olympic wrestling champion. He also oversaw record membership growth, strengthened financial stability, and advanced international governance and rule development.
Joining Bender as USOPE awards recipients for 2025 were William E. Simon Award recipients Tatyana McFadden and Greg Louganis, General Douglas MacArthur Award recipient Dr. Sean McCann, and William J. Hybl Paralympic Contributor Award recipient Dr. Cheri Blauwet.
The USOPE celebrated its 2025 honorees and presented its four annual awards on December 10 at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.
Founded in 1984 to invest part of the surplus from the Los Angeles Olympic Games, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Endowment is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and its member organizations. Over four decades, the Endowment has grown to more than $260 million in net assets and awarded nearly $400 million in grants to strengthen Olympic and Paralympic sport across the United States.
For more information, visit usope84.org/awards.
