Current:Home > reviewsSarah Hildebrandt gives Team USA second wrestling gold medal in as many nights -Secure Growth Solutions
Sarah Hildebrandt gives Team USA second wrestling gold medal in as many nights
View
Date:2025-04-18 19:55:57
PARIS — Over the past four years, Sarah Hildebrandt has established herself as one of the best wrestlers in the world in her weight class. She won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Then silver at the 2021 world championships. Then another bronze, at worlds. Then another.
Yet on Wednesday night, Hildebrandt wasn't one of the best. She was the best.
And the Olympic gold medal draped around her neck was proof.
Hildebrandt gave Team USA its second wrestling gold medal in as many nights at the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Yusneylys Guzmán of Cuba, 3-0, in the 50-kilogram final at Champ-de-Mars Arena. It is the 30-year-old's first senior title at the Olympics or world championships – the gold medal she's been chasing after disappointment in Tokyo.
➤ Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Hildebrandt's path to the gold was not without drama as her original opponent, Vinesh Phogat of India, failed to make weight Wednesday morning despite taking drastic measures overnight, including even cutting her hair. The Indian Olympic Association said she missed the 50-kilogram cutoff by just 100 grams, which is about 0.22 pounds.
So instead, Hildebrandt faced Guzmán, whom she had walloped 10-0 at last year's Pan-American Championships. And she won again.
➤ The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Her gold came roughly 24 hours after Amit Elor also won her Olympic final. Those two join Helen Maroulis and Tamyra Mensah-Stock as the only American women to earn Olympic titles since 2004, when women's wrestling was added to the Olympic program.
Hildebrandt grew up in Granger, Indiana and, like many of the women on Team USA, she spent part of her early days wrestling against boys.
Unlike other wrestlers, however, she had another unique opponent: Her own mother. Hildebrandt explained at the U.S. Olympic trials earlier this year that, during early-morning training sessions with her coach, her mother would come along per school policy. Because the coach was too large for Hildebrandt to practice her moves, she ended up enlisting her mom, Nancy, instead.
"This sweet woman let me beat her up at 5:30 in the morning, for the sake of my improvement," she told the Olympic Information Service.
Hildebrandt went on to win a junior national title, then wrestle collegiately at King University in Bristol, Tennessee. Before long, she was making world teams for Team USA and winning international competitions like the Pan-American Championships, which she has now won seven times.
It all led to Tokyo, where Hildebrandt was a strong contender to win gold but missed out on the final in devastating fashion. She had a two-point lead with just 12 seconds left in her semifinal bout against Sun Yanan of China, but a late step out of bounds and takedown doomed her to the bronze medal match, which she won.
Hildebrandt has since said that she didn't take enough time to process the emotions of that loss. She tried to confront that grief and also revisit some of her preparation heading into Paris.
"I was really hard-headed, stubborn to a fault," she said at the U.S. Olympic trials. "I wasn't listening to my body. Just trained through walls because I thought that's what it took. It's taken a lot to step back from that and just be like 'whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're good, we put in the work the last 20 years, we can listen to our body.'"
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.
veryGood! (99533)
Related
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- What we know about the 5 men who were aboard the wrecked Titan sub
- A New Project in Rural Oregon Is Letting Farmers Test Drive Electric Tractors in the Name of Science
- The Supreme Court rules against USPS in Sunday work case
- Small twin
- Save 40% On Top-Rated Mascaras From Tarte, Lancôme, It Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Too Faced, and More
- Save 50% On This Calf and Foot Stretcher With 1,800+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews
- Congress Urges EPA to Maintain Clean-Air Regulations on Chemical Recycling of Plastics
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- If you love film, you should be worried about what's going on at Turner Classic Movies
Ranking
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- All My Children Star Jeffrey Carlson Dead at 48
- Dua Lipa Fantastically Frees the Nipple at Barbie Premiere
- Shell plans to increase fossil fuel production despite its net-zero pledge
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Elizabeth Gilbert halts release of a new book after outcry over its Russian setting
- Cheaper eggs and gas lead inflation lower in May, but higher prices pop up elsewhere
- Who Were the Worst Climate Polluters in the US in 2021?
Recommendation
Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
Taking a breather: Fed holds interest rates steady in patient battle against inflation
Megan Rapinoe Announces Plans to Retire From Professional Soccer
Jonah Hill's Ex Sarah Brady Accuses Actor of Emotional Abuse
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
LGBTQ+ creatives rely on Pride Month income. This year, they're feeling the pinch
Indigenous Leaders in Texas Target Global Banks to Keep LNG Export Off of Sacred Land at the Port of Brownsville
How saving water costs utilities