Ali Bernard is a female wrestler who earned a bye

Bye (sports)

A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...

 in women's freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...

 qualifying her to compete against 2004 bronze medal

Bronze medal

A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...

-winner Katie Downing, whom she defeated in two matches at the 2008 qualifying match in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

; that feat earned her a spot to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, competing for the United States

United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics

The United States competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. American athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since the 1896 Summer Olympics except the 1980 Summer Olympics, which the U.S. boycotted. The United States entered the Games as the most successful nation in...

. She competed in the freestyle

Freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...

 72 kg/158.5 lbs class, because Greco-Roman

Greco-Roman wrestling

Greco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...

-style is not yet an Olympic sport for women.

Bernard defeated Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

's Amarachi Obiajunwa

Amarachi Obiajunwa

Amarachi Obiajunwa is a female freestyle wrestler from Nigeria who participated in Women's freestyle wrestling 72 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. She lost in the 1/8 of final with Ali Bernard from USA.-External links:*...

, then lost to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

's Wang Jiao

Wang Jiao

Wang Jiao is a female Chinese freestyle wrestler. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.She was a late replacement for Xu Wang at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She went on to win the gold medal.-External links:*...

 which put her in the repechage

Repechage

Repechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...

 competition for a bronze medal

Bronze medal

A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...

. In those matches, she defeated Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's Jenny Frannson before losing to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's Kyoko Hamaguchi

Kyoko Hamaguchi

is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. She has won five FILA Wrestling World Championships and two Olympic Bronze medals in the 72 kg weight class.She is sponsored by Japan Beverage Inc...

, placing fourth in her class.

Wrestling Greco-Roman-style in high school at New Ulm High School

New Ulm High School

New Ulm High School is a public high school located in New Ulm, Minnesota. The high school itself has an enrollment of approximately 750 students. Founded in 1857, it is currently located at 414 South Payne Street...

, 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

University of Regina

The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated...

 in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, where she won four national college titles.