Welcome home gathering set for Olympic silver medalist, former Iowa NCAA champion Spencer Lee

CEDAR RAPIDS — A welcome home gathering is being planned for Olympic silver medalist and former University of Iowa three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee.

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club is encouraging wrestling fans to join members in welcoming Lee home at the Eastern Iowa Airport on Saturday night. His return flight is expected to arrive at approximately 10:56 p.m. and fans are asked to get there by 10 p.m., in case the flight is early.

According to a UI sports information department news release, the celebration will be in the main lobby outside of the security checkpoint in the terminal.

Fans are urged to park in the short-term parking lot.

Lee earned the 125.5-pound (57 kilograms) silver medal in men’s freestyle wrestling during the Olympic Games in Paris, France. He is the 11th Hawkeye medalist and 20th overall to wrestle in the Olympics.

Lee is the second Hawkeye to claim Olympic silver, joining Barry Davis, who did it in 1984. Iowa has had a medalist in two straight Olympics, getting a bronze from Thomas Gilman in Tokyo in 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

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