Published on Show Me Mizzou Aug. 27, 2024
Story by Joe Walljasper, BJ ’92
By almost any measure, J’den Cox is one of the most accomplished athletes in Mizzou history. He’s a three-time NCAA wrestling champion, an Olympic bronze medalist and a two-time world champion. But those accomplishments aren’t all he wants you to remember.
“I came into this world as a human being, then I decided to do a sport, and I ended up being all right at it,” Cox says. “Now that I’m done with the sport, I’m still the human being. So that’s what is important to me about how I’m remembered: who I was, not what I did.”
In April, Cox retired from wrestling after losing to Kollin Moore in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials. After shaking Moore’s hand, he knelt, removed his shoes and walked off the mat in the sport’s farewell tradition. Cox says he has been pondering retirement for more than a year and knew it was time to say goodbye when he started to lose to opponents he once beat.
He is most excited about devoting more time to his wife and two daughters. Professionally, he will stay involved in his favorite sport as USA Wrestling’s new national freestyle development and resident coach and continue to share his thoughts as a podcast host and singer-songwriter.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Cox says. “I don’t have to sit in that rocking chair and dream about what could have been. I get to reminisce on the way things were. And now I’m on a completely different journey with my life. I can focus on being a good man, being a good father, being a good husband.”
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