Amit Elor Becomes Youngest Team USA Wrestler to Win Olympic Gold

“Not a lot of positivity in the wrestling room,” she said.

“Even after my accomplishments, I was always very negative with myself,” she added. “So it’s taken a lot of healing and a lot of support for me to start to believe in myself and my abilities and to think of myself as a good wrestler.”

Experience has also helped Elor — like three world championships in one summer.

Elor has also endured tragedy. One of her older brothers was killed in 2018 during a robbery. Her father, Yair, died in 2022 at age 64. He and Elor’s mother, Elana, had immigrated to the U.S. from Israel in 1980 to attend college.

“I’ve had a lot of traumatic life experiences,” Elor said. “I think that helps you be able to learn how to block things out and just focus on the present and living your life, and I think I use those skills out here when there’s all of that pressure.”

Wrestling in a new weight class in Paris, Elor was unseeded in the 2024 Olympic tournament. In making it to the gold-medal finals, she dispatched three opponents, including 2023 world champion Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Turkey, 10-2, and a rapid-fast 10-0 technical fall over North Korea’s Sol Gum Pak in the semifinals. Cavusoglu Tosun went on to win Olympic bronze in Paris.

“I was like I can’t believe this is real, I can’t believe life is real,” said Elor after she advanced to the gold medal match. “Because that little girl that started wrestling at four years old is still inside of me. And she’s just looking out, like, what is happening right now?”

Facing Zhumanazarova for gold, Elor knew what she was in for; she had faced the 24-year-old Kyrgyzstani athlete at international training camps in tough bouts — something Elor kept in mind during the gold-medal bout.

“I also trusted my improvement in my abilities,” she explained. “I know that she’s an extremely solid, strong wrestler, so my mindset going into the match was to be patient and to stay in good position and to trust in my style of wrestling and in my skills.”

And Elor is not done yet. Her number one goal besides becoming an Olympic champion is to compete in the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.

“I am born and raised in California,” she said, “so to have the opportunity to compete and represent not only my country, but my state, is incredible. I have been excited ever since I heard about it.”

An award-winning freelance writer based in Vermont, Peggy Shinn is in Paris covering her eighth Olympic Games. She has contributed to TeamUSA.org since its inception in 2008.