TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The journey to becoming an Olympic athlete is a long one but Kendra Samargis' is taking a step closer to competing on the world stage.
After winning at the 2022 national qualifier in Cleveland, Ohio, Samargis' was invited to train with team USA and teams from around the world at the Olympic training gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“I’m super excited I can’t wait to learn more, to grow and just to see how well I stack up with other people so I'm super excited for it,” she said.
She started boxing only five years ago but has become one of the best fighters in the country. Her trainer and husband Jason Samargis' says Kendra is one of the best athletes he has ever worked with.
“She’s an absolute work horse. She works, works, works. No one is going to outwork her,” he said.
Kendra believes it's here relationship with Jason that puts her over the top as a boxer and is her "secret weapon".
“I always have somebody to lean on that’s there and from day one before I even believed my own self when we first started this journey, he believes in me and that’s just something that I've always held near and dear is that your belief in me made me believe in my own self,” she said.
Kendra started boxing for just weight loss but realized she had a shot to make it to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but was sick the day before her weigh-in.
Now Kendra is ready to continue her training and compete at the Olympic qualifiers in 2023 and Jason has no doubt she will make it to Paris in 2024.
“She will. That’s all I can say. She will. We will see her. All of us will see her,” he said.
