Jason Kelce is reflecting on his time at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including his viral arm wrestling match with Team USA women’s rugby star Nicole Heavirland.
While appearing on the latest installment of the Green Light with Chris Long podcast, Kelce, 36, explained why he initially hesitated to take on the fellow athlete, 29.
“Dude, I hate saying yes to arm wrestling. Especially when it’s always somebody that’s smaller than you because it’s like a losing situation,” said Kelce. “Like if I win, it’s like, ‘Oh, look at the big guy picking on the smaller person.’ ”
The former NFL star, however, chose to take on the challenge in the spirit of the Olympics.
“I’m at the Olympics, obviously. And [Nicole is] like, ‘Do you want to arm wrestle?’ I’m like, alright, I’m not going to turn down arm wrestling an Olympian at the Olympics,” he said.
Although Heavirland lost the match, she shared a clip of her interaction with Kelce on Instagram, writing over the video: “Challenged Jason Kelce to an arm wrestle.”
She jokingly suggested he didn’t follow the rules during their match by captioning the post, “@jason.kelce holding on to that table a little bit? 🤣.”
New Heights Show/Twitter
The retired Philadelphia Eagles player’s wife, Kylie Kelce, who accompanied him on the trip, hilariously commented on the video, “I tried to warn you!”
He playfully defended himself by adding, “Holding onto something with your off hand is completely within the rules of the International federation of Arm Wrestling.”
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During their time in Paris, the Kelces also met other members of the USA Rugby team, including Kasey McCravey, Kate Zackary, Meya Bizer, and Kristen Thomas.
Ilona Maher/TikTok
Star player Ilona Maher even named Jason the unofficial mascot of Team USA women’s rugby in another fun clip on TikTok. He later showed his appreciation for the new title by wearing a red, white, and blue button-up shirt that had various images of Maher’s face.
In a conversation with the Associated Press, Jason explained why he and Kylie chose to take full advantage of their time at the Olympics.
“When we found out that we were going to have an opportunity to go to this, the more we thought about it, we were like, ‘Let’s take advantage of it now that we can actually do it,’ ” he said.
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“We love sports, we love competition, we love world events. This is such a unique place where the entire world gets to come together and bond over competition and sports,” he continued.
