2024 Paris Olympics: Who is USA's gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt?
The United States' wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt won her maiden Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games. Sarah beat Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the women's wrestling freestyle 50kg final. Meanwhile, Yui Susaki, who lost to the now-eliminated Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, prevailed in the bronze medal match. Notably, Sarah became the second American female wrestler with a gold at the Paris Olympics.
Here's how Sarah fared at Paris Games
Sarah beat Algeria's Ibtissem Doudou 10-0 by technical superiority in the women's freestyle 50kg R16 clash. The American wrestler then claimed a 7-4 win against China's Ziqi Feng to reach the semi-final. Sarah beat Mongolia's Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal 5-0 to qualify for the gold medal match. She secured the coveted gold after overcoming Cuba's Guzman Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semi-finals.
Who is Sarah Hildebrandt?
Sarah was born on September 23, 1993, in the United States of America. She wrestles in weight classes 50kg and 53kg. As per the Olympics.com, the American athlete started wrestling by "joining a boys team" at Penn High School. Sarah's parents did not want her to venutre into wrestling, but she managed to convince them eventually. Notably, Sarah grew up watching her brothers wrestle.
Bronze medal on Olympic debut
Sarah made headlines in her debut Olympics campaign, at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She lost the men's 50kg semi-final to China's Sun Yanan. The former was leading 7-2 before losing her bout in the final 12 seconds. However, Sarah defeated Oksana Livach of Ukraine to clinch the bronze medal. The American won by a 12-1 margin.
Other notable achievements of Sarah
Besides making a mark at the Olympics, Sarah has also won four medals at the World Wrestling Championships (silver in 2018 and 2021; bronze in 2022 and 2023). She has also won gold at the Pan American Games (2019 Lima). Sarah owns a record seven gold medals at the Pan American Wrestling Championships (2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023).
