Trump awards two winners in 2026 Patriot Games, just don't ask who won

Roughly a thousand spectators cheered as teens Kylie Ritchie of Connecticut and Bridget Kavan of Nebraska ran from platform to platform, swinging on monkey bars and a rope, heaving weights and clambering up a wall in an American Ninja Warrior-like competition.

Among the onlookers was President Donald Trump, who watched the semi-finals and finals of the Patriot Games on Aug. 11. He later presented the two winners — a boy and a girl — with two golden trophies and $125,000 in scholarship prize money each.

Joining Trump inside the sprawling Spire Academy athletic facility located just outside Geneva in Northeast Ohio’s wine country were Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and ESPN personality Pat McAfee.

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Speaking in a mid-event interview, Trump said the athletes were doing “fantastically well” and that he was looking forward to watching the finals.

“This has been as exciting as everything; I didn’t know what to expect,” Trump said of the Patriot Games.

Although the victors were named on Aug. 11, don’t expect all news outlets to name them until Aug. 13, when a one-hour recap of the games will air on ABC. Despite the embargoed information, the ABC-owned ESPN posted the winners’ names on Facebook.

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Trump’s visit capped the three-day event that began on Aug. 9 as part of the Freedom 250 celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. When he arrived, the president led the final eight competitors into the arena amid pyrotechnics and blaring music.

The crowd chanted “USA,” while individuals yelled “I love you, Mr. President” and “2028!” throughout the night. Trump often smiled. In some cases, he could be seen visibly saying thank you. Trump and other notables sat in front of about 112 teen athletes who wore medals around their necks.

The games featured 120 student-athletes between the ages of 14 and 17 from across the United States, its territories, military bases and indigenous nations, according to Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez.

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Those athletes competed across several elimination-style competitions that ranged from track-and-field, tug-of-war, kickball, dodgeball, basketball shooting called Pop-A-Shot and more. The winners split the $250,000 scholarship.

Trump spoke in a brief interview with ESPN/ABC that aired inside the venue.

“No. 1, I love Ohio, I really love it,” he said.

When asked which NFL teams he believed, Trump mentioned the New England Patriots, New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams. Many in the crowd urged Trump to say the Cleveland Browns, but he did not.

“I better not get into this much. I’m going to get myself in trouble if I do,” Trump said.

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Many spectators wore badges that reflected they were guests of participating athletes. Some lanyards read “special guest.” But many more in the audience wore no special designation.

Many of the badgeless, like Roger Wideman of South Euclid, came to see the president and stayed for the competition.

“I came to see Trump,” Wideman said, explaining how a friend invited him to the competition to see the president.

Wideman admitted that he didn’t quite know what the Patriot Games were about, but he said it was fun to support the teenagers.

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Debbie Perkins and Jeff Morris, both Ashtabula County transplants, had never seen Trump in person before. They were excited to see the man they both supported.

“She took her sons to see Bill Clinton, and she didn’t like him,” Morris said of Perkins. “It’s just good to see the president, whoever he is.”

Although Trump presented awards to two athletes on Aug. 11, all news media except ABC and ESPN were asked not to report the winners until 9 p.m. on Aug. 13.

ABC, which owns ESPN, aired the games live and was given exclusive streaming rights. Other outlets received media guidelines that barred live shots of the Aug. 11 sporting events. Many could not use videos of the event that were longer than 2 minutes.

A one-hour recap special on the Patriot Games is scheduled to run on ABC at 9 p.m. Aug. 13.

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USA Today reporters Swapna Venugopal and Joey Garrison contributed to this report.

Bryce Buyakie is an Akron-based reporter who covers the courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X @bryce_buyakie.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Trump awards two winners in 2026 Patriot Games, just don’t ask who won