Sarah Hildebrandt has been one of many United States’ most constant ladies’s wrestlers for the previous decade, however on Wednesday she lastly broke by way of to seize an Olympic gold medal.
Following a heartbreaking loss within the semifinals within the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo that in the end led to her successful a bronze medal, Hildebrandt returned in 2024 with a renewed motivation to make it to the highest of the rostrum. She realized that dream following a shutout 3-0 win over Yusneylis Guzman Lopez from Cuba to win her gold medal.
“I really like this sport,” Hildebrandt mentioned after the win. “It’s a lot enjoyable. I’m going to smile as a lot as I can. I believe I did an amazing job of that this week.”
Recognized for her signature smile after matches, Hildebrandt’s exuberance after her victory was plain as she turned the second member of the US wrestling group to win gold after 20-year-old Amit Elor was the primary on Tuesday at 68kg.
The championship run was a little bit of a whirlwind for Hildebrandt beginning on Wednesday morning after she obtained phrase that her unique opponent Vinesh Vinesh from India did not make weight, which disqualified her from the match. Per Olympic guidelines, Lopez was pulled again into the gold medal match as a result of she misplaced to Vinesh within the semifinals.
In 2023 on the Pan-Am Championships, Hildebrandt dominated Guzman with a 10-0 victory, successful by technical superiority in lower than two minutes.
This time round, Hildebrandt didn’t get fairly the identical lopsided win, however she brimmed with confidence as she shut down Guzman and scored the one takedown of the match early within the opening interval. Hildebrandt’s third level got here from a passivity name on Guzman after she failed to have interaction and the referee put her on the clock to attain or face a penalty.
Ultimately, Hildebrandt obtained the win 3-0 and instantly celebrated with a raucous group of supporters within the crowd, a lot of whom traveled from her house state of Indiana to be along with her in Paris.
Already one of the adorned ladies’s wrestlers from the US, Hildebrandt now owns an Olympic gold to go together with her bronze from 2020 and 4 medals within the World Championships.
