Meet Hive Athlete and Freestyle Wrestler Katherine Shai
Katherine Shai is a freestyle wrestler, business owner, wife, mom, female athlete and mom-athlete advocate. She is a 7x National Team Member for Team USA and a 2020 Olympic Hopeful training out of Denver, CO. We checked in with her to learn more about her Olympic Dreams, how she balances motherhood and professional athletics, and how she has cultivated a strong support system.

Where is home?
Half Moon Bay, California is where I was raised. I now call Denver, Colorado home.What is your main sport?
Freestyle wrestling.How did you get into Freestyle Wrestling?
My dad went to the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games in Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling. He started coaching women in the late 1980's. My sister and I were always around the sport and took it up in elementary school. We started competing wearing water shoes and gymnastic leotards, as our mother was unsure if we would stay in the sport. Luckily, we stuck with it and combined have almost 15 years on the National Team!What drives you to do what you do?
I value the challenge that training and competition bring. Wrestling is so individual, and it's exciting to see when the little things and the extra work you put in reap big rewards, but it can be scary putting it all on the line to MAYBE see the result you desire. I returned to competition after 2.5 years away from the mat and after having my son in 2017 because I felt a deep desire to feel and experience the challenge once again.Do you compete for a team or a sponsor?
I am incredible lucky to have so many supporters. Wrestling is a sport where you need a village, maybe even a city of supporters! Mine are: DCO MMA Fitness, Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, Northern Colorado Wrestling Club, and Cliff Keen Athletic.Greatest personal accomplishment in your sport or in your life?
Raising my son is the most incredible experience and honor.  It outweighs any athletic accomplishment! Quite honestly, just putting myself back into competition form after so long off the mat, and figuring out how to do it with my little one was a huge accomplishment. I'm proud that I'm here, I've done it, and that my son has been growing up seeing his mom train hard and always problem solve how to make it work with a family.What is your profession if not your sport?
I train full-time, but when I wasn't competing, I started my educational business, LuchaFIT. It's still my side gig, where I have written about my experiences as a Team USA freestyle wrestler for other aspiring female wrestlers. I do events, clinics, online mindset coaching, and have sponsored the Colorado Girls Wrestling Championship for the last two years. I love being an advocate for more girls joining the sport. After the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, I will ramp the business back up as my full time gig.Favorite place you have competed?
I loved competing in Thessaloniki, Greece. It was the University Worlds, I competed on the world team with my sister and my father coached us. My mom came to watch and we made an entire trip out of it. I won gold and my sister won silver. It was not only a beautiful, memorable location, but our teammates, our coaching staff, the incredible host country, the food, and competing alongside my sister at world championships made the entire trip incredible. It's a trip we still reminisce about. Favorite non-sport related hobby?
I love cooking! I cook a lot from scratch, and my husband and I have enjoyed taking on little cooking adventures! It's helpful to enjoy working in the kitchen, since I have to eat well as a professional athlete in a weight class sport. I feel pretty confident that I can make a decently authentic recipe from almost any culture in the world. I still have a lot to learn but i think my husband would say I'm the best cook he knows.  What are your goals for the future?
To win Olympic Gold, and then create an awesome platform for female wrestlers, to help create more options for wrestlers to have serious income to be able to compete longer and support their families. 