# Ali Bernard

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{{Short description|American wrestler (born 1986)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{MedalTableTop}}
{{MedalSport | Women's [freestyle wrestling](/source/freestyle_wrestling)}}
{{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[World Championships](/source/FILA_Wrestling_World_Championships)}}
{{MedalBronze|[2011 Istanbul](/source/2011_World_Wrestling_Championships)|[72 kg](/source/2011_World_Wrestling_Championships_%E2%80%93_Women's_freestyle_72_kg)}}
{{MedalBottom}}
'''Ali Bernard''' (born April 11, 1986 in [New Ulm, Minnesota](/source/New_Ulm%2C_Minnesota)) is a female wrestler, who competes in the women's freestyle heavyweight (72 kg) division.

Wrestling Greco-Roman-style in high school at [New Ulm High School](/source/New_Ulm_High_School), she earned the Minnesota state high school championship in 2004. Bernard received a college scholarship to compete in women's wrestling at the [University of Regina](/source/University_of_Regina) in [Saskatchewan](/source/Saskatchewan), Canada, where she won four national college titles.

At the US qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics she earned a [bye](/source/bye_(sports)) to compete against 2004 [bronze medal](/source/bronze_medal)-winner [Katie Downing](/source/Katie_Downing), whom she defeated in two matches at the 2008 qualifying match in [Las Vegas](/source/Las_Vegas%2C_Nevada);{{Clarify|date=February 2016}} that feat earned her a spot to compete in the [2008 Summer Olympics](/source/2008_Summer_Olympics) in [Beijing](/source/Beijing), [China](/source/China), competing for the [United States](/source/United_States_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics). She competed in the [freestyle](/source/Freestyle_wrestling) 72 kg/158.5 lbs class, because [Greco-Roman](/source/Greco-Roman_Wrestling)-style is not yet an [Olympic](/source/Olympics) sport for women.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Bernard defeated [Nigeria](/source/Nigeria)'s [Amarachi Obiajunwa](/source/Amarachi_Obiajunwa), then lost to [China](/source/China)'s [Wang Jiao](/source/Wang_Jiao_(wrestling)) which put her in the [repechage](/source/repechage) competition for a [bronze medal](/source/bronze_medal).  In those matches, she defeated [Sweden](/source/Sweden)'s [Jenny Fransson](/source/Jenny_Fransson) before losing to [Japan](/source/Japan)'s [Kyoko Hamaguchi](/source/Kyoko_Hamaguchi), placing fourth in her class.<ref>{{cite web| last = SOUHAN| first = JIM| title = New Ulm's Bernard falls short of bronze| publisher = Star Tribune| date = 2008-08-17| url = http://www.startribune.com/sports/olympics/27061814.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUX| accessdate = 2008-08-18| archive-date = January 25, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200125072023/http://www.startribune.com/sports/olympics/27061814.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUX| url-status = dead}}</ref>

She won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships, beating Fransson, Wang Jiao and Ohenewa Akuffo before losing to Stanka Zlateva.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.fila-official.com/images/FILA/resultats/2011/results_09_istanbul.pdf|title = 2011 World Championships - Women's 72 kg Freestyle|access-date = 17 February 2016|website = www.fila-official.com/|publisher = FILA|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012946/http://www.fila-official.com/images/FILA/resultats/2011/results_09_istanbul.pdf|archive-date = 2015-09-24|url-status = dead}}</ref>  As Zlateva reached the final, Bernard was able to fight for the bronze medal, beating Guzel Manyurova to win it.<ref name=":0" />

Bernard originally lost to [Stephany Lee](/source/Stephany_Lee) at the 2012 Olympic trials. Lee later tested positive for marijuana and Bernard was awarded the spot.  At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she lost to Jenny Fransson in the first round.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Freestyle 72 kg results - Wrestling - London 2012 Olympics |url=http://www.olympic.org/olympic-results/london-2012/wrestling/freestyle-72-kg-w |website=www.olympic.org |access-date=2016-02-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005064037/http://www.olympic.org/olympic-results/london-2012/wrestling/freestyle-72-kg-w |archivedate=2015-10-05 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Footer USA Wrestling 2012 Summer Olympics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Ali}}
Category:Living people
Category:1986 births
Category:Olympic wrestlers for the United States
Category:Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Category:American female sport wrestlers
Category:World Wrestling Championships medalists
Category:21st-century American sportswomen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ali Bernard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Bernard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Bernard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.