PARIS — Chances are, you’ve never heard of Amit Elor.
You don’t know that the 20-year-old American entered these Olympic games as the gold-medal favorite in women’s freestyle wrestling in the 68-kilogram weight class, or that she entered Monday’s competition with a winning streak of 35 matches that began in — wait for it — 2019. If you’re looking for unadulterated excellence in these Games, the kind that makes you stand up in your seat and marvel at how one athlete could be so much more superior than the others, she’s as good an example as you’ll find.
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Even if that name has never crossed your feed.
On Tuesday evening in Paris, where the sporting world was somehow still missing her with that spotlight she so deserves, the young Israeli-American woman who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area finished her remarkable run by beating Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova 3-0 in the gold-medal match inside Champs de Mars Arena.
All told, Elor won her four matches by a combined total of 31-2 while extending her international winning streak to 39. That includes three shutouts in four tries and a semifinal match (against North Korea’s Pak Sol-gum) that lasted just one minute and 44 seconds.
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But the best part about Elor, who screamed “I’m an Olympic champion!” and flexed for the cameras when the gold was finally hers, is that she has the kind of Olympic spirit that reminds you why this setting is so special.
“I had goosebumps,” Elor had said after her semifinal match the night before. “I was just staring at that crowd of people just cheering for me, and I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is real. I can’t believe life is real,’ 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? How did I go from local kid’s practice to the Olympic stage?’ It’s insane.”
Now, full disclosure, I only know about Elor because of my 15-year-old son, who took up the sport last year and asked for me to take him to her wrestling clinic that was in our corner of the country. It was a wonderful experience, with Elor working with young kids on drills for approximately three hours and taking pictures afterward while answering any and all of their questions. She was, as anyone who follows her Instagram account is well aware, a delight.
Amit Elor with the author’s son. (Courtesy of Sam Amick)
But Elor’s story goes far deeper than her dominance. Elor is the youngest of six siblings. Her brother Oshry was killed in 2018 during a marijuana robbery. Her father, Yair, who immigrated to the U.S. from Israel with her mother, Elana, in 1980, died at the age of 64 in 2022.
That sort of trauma never goes away, but it was still somewhat surprising to hear Elor reference it all after her semifinal match. Elor, who was trying to explain her impressive ability to handle the increased attention that is finally coming her way, made it clear that her experiences have played a part in shaping her competitive fabric.
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“The more people watch me, the more I feel that urge to explode and fight even harder,” she explained. “And when I’m just walking out and stepping onto that mat, instead of there being nerves and doubt, the second I hear everybody cheering and I see those familiar faces, I just have this sharp focus that kicks in and this desire to fight the second the whistle blows.
“I also think that over the years, I’ve developed really good skills as far as blocking things out, whether that’s thoughts, emotions, feelings. I’ve had a lot of traumatic life experiences too, so I think that also 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 used those skills out here when there’s all of that pressure.”
You don’t find that kind of perspective in some professional athletes who are in their mid-30s, let alone a young woman who is so brand new to this world of increased exposure. Yet after her semifinal, when a handful of reporters had scrambled to find her in the mixed zone because her performances demanded it, she was faced with the full scope of her newfound fame in the form of two Israeli reporters.
The gentlemen informed Elor that she had become an overnight sensation in her family’s homeland, with her matches broadcast live back in Israel and media outlets teeming with curiosity about Elor.
“I cannot believe that,” Elor said. “That is just insane. Thank you so much for following and supporting me. … I grew up wrestling in Israel almost every summer, and for me, that is a huge part of who I am as a wrestler today. I’ve received so much support from them, and they’ve always been so welcoming for me, so to know that they’ve been watching me — oh my gosh — it’s just incredible.”
As is she.
(Top photo of Amit Elor after winning her Monday semifinal match: Luis Robayo / AFP via Getty Images)
Sam Amick is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic. He has covered the Association for the better part of two decades while at USA Today, Sports Illustrated, AOL FanHouse and the Sacramento Bee. Follow Sam on Twitter @sam_amick
