U.S. wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt wins Olympic gold after a wild day

PARIS — As she typically does before a match, U.S. wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt spent Wednesday morning cutting weight. The usual routine that she, or any other wrestler, would do to rapidly lose water weight ahead of a mandatory weigh-in. Her morning — the hours before the gold medal match in the women’s 50-kilogram freestyle competition — played out like any other normal match day. I just won the Olympics!’” Hildebrandt said, recounting her thoughts through the twists and turns of her day. You did not win the Olympics!’” The story of the wackiest day in Hildebrandt’s wrestling life ended with her running around the mat inside Champs-de-Mars Arena. Advertisement Hildebrandt’s breakthrough registered as the fourth Olympic gold in the history of the U.S. women’s program but the second in as many nights, following Amit Elor’s dominance in the 68-kilogram final. And melt into the group of friends and family members cheering from the front row, telling them, “I can’t believe this!” Psych again! “I can’t put words to it,” said Hildebrandt, a 30-year-old who has wrestled ever since her parents gave her permission to take on the boys at Discovery Middle School in Granger, Ind. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long, and I feel like my mind and my body are just not computing everything. Especially with the chaotic morning I had with the change of opponents … it’s just crazy.” Advertisement Vinesh Phogat of India was supposed to meet Hildebrandt in the final. By defeating Guzman Lopez in the semifinals, Phogat was set to make history as the first Indian woman to compete in a wrestling final at the Olympics. According to United World Wrestling, the sport’s governing body, Phogat failed to meet the required 110-pound threshold. Hildebrandt has been so focused on her weight that, immediately following her three matches Tuesday, she covered herself in sweats and went jogging around the grounds near the Eiffel Tower for half an hour. “This is the best place in the world to do it, in front of the freakin’ Eiffel Tower. !” said Drew Hildebrandt, Sarah’s brother and wrestling partner. Advertisement Drew, much like his sister, has one of those happy faces that compel strangers to smile. So as they prepared for Paris, Drew revealed how the Hildebrandt strategy changed. Sarah Hildebrandt had earned a bronze at the joyless Tokyo Games in 2021, and though she wanted better in Paris, she would focus less on the results, and more on enjoying the experience. “It’s definitely a new approach we’ve taken,” Drew said, explaining how his older sister could sway her hips and smile while waiting backstage just before she wrestled for a gold medal. “I feel like within the last year, just being grateful for the chance to wrestle, just experiencing these opportunities. We just want to be loose.” Still, the disqualification of Phogat led to some confusion for Team Hildebrandt. Three years after Tokyo, with the “Games Wide Open,” Hildebrandt’s redemption medal seemed that it would be coming her way in the least dramatic way possible: from a scale. Advertisement “[Phogat] wasn’t at weigh-in, so I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this could be a possibility,’” Hildebrandt said. It was very strange!” However, any thoughts of ditching the sauna and toasting with champagne and croissants soon vanished when Guzman Lopez was promoted to the final. Just another wild day on the wrestling mat — and Hildebrandt thought she had seen strange before, like that one time when a power outage delayed one of her championship matches. play Play now NaN min Follow on Podcast episode Spotify Apple Google Amazon “The weirdest final I’ve ever had, the power went out for, like, 30 minutes and we just stopped for 30 minutes and then we did the rest of the match,” she remembered. Early into the men’s Greco-Roman 97-kilogram match, Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan could not continue because of a shoulder injury, then he bent down on the mat to unlace his shoes, the international gesture when wrestlers announce their retirement. Then there was Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia, who walked away dejected from his defeat in the 97-kilogram bronze medal match and encountered a man who had left his seat in the stands, somehow got past security and jumped down to the floor. Later on that mat, however, the end of a weird day turned into the happiest moment in a wrestler’s life. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/07/sarah-hildebrandt-wins-gold-usa-wrestling-olympics/