Kyla's Story
Kyla Bremner was born in Canada to an Australian mother from Cobar and a Canadian father. She lived in Dubbo in 1984 and 1985 before returning to Canada, where she took up wrestling at 17 after discovering the sport at university. Bremner moved to Australia in 1996 when she was 19.
Bremner trained at the Australian Institute of Sport in 1996 and again in 1998 and 1999. Representing Sydney University Wrestling Club, she became a seven-time Australian champion and five-time Oceania champion while completing a medical degree. She narrowly missed qualification for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games but continued competing through the following Olympic cycle.
At Beijing 2008, the 31-year-old Bremner became the first Australian woman to compete in wrestling at an Olympic Games. She contested the women’s 48-kilogram freestyle division, losing her opening bout to South Korea’s Kim Hyung-joo and finishing 17th. Her appearance established a significant milestone for Australian wrestling, four years after women’s wrestling entered the Olympic program.
