"People love to hate on Indiana" - Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt weighs in on the state producing very successful wrestlers

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Sep 21, 2024 09:09 GMT

Paris Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt recently addressed the wrestling culture in Indiana. She highlighted the state's rich wrestling tradition while addressing the criticism it receives.

Hildebrandt was born on September 23, 1993, to Nancy and Chris Hildebrandt in Granger, Indiana. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she claimed the women's 50 kg gold after defeating Yusneylis Guzman with a decisive lead of 5-0. During an interview with Justin Basch a month after her prestigious victory, she emphasized the success of Indiana's wrestling community, highlighting the senior level.

While recognizing the competitiveness of Indiana's high school wrestling, Sarah Hildebrandt pointed out that she and Kayla Miracle have been on the Olympic team twice. The Indiana wrestlers represented their nation at the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics.

"You gotta give some props to Indiana," she said. "I think we have really successful senior-level wrestlers like a ton in general. Indiana showed out at the Olympics in all sports so just shout out to that. I mean also just high school level I don't follow high school wrestling anymore but obviously, it's an incredibly difficult high school tournament. [at 1:02:00]

It's only one division you have a lot of really talented people in there but just looking at our senior-level success, I mean me and Kayla have been on the last two Olympic teams that's that's crazy you know we're making up a third of the Olympic team."

Indiana boasts a rich legacy of successful wrestlers, including Dan Gable, who clinched a gold medal in the 125kg weight category at the Tokyo Games. Angel Escobedo, Indiana-born and coach at the State University, is a two-time NCAA Championships and represented the nation at the 2013 World Championships.

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Sarah Hildebrandt reflects on navigating a mix of emotions before her Olympic final

Sarah Hildebrandt victorious on the podium during the Paris Olympics in France. (Photo via Getty Images)

Sarah Hildebrandt found herself overwhelmed by a whirlwind of emotions ahead of the final of the 50kg wrestling final at the Paris Olympics. She went through a series of confusing incidents after the original finalist Vinesh Phogat was disqualified, citing overweight.

Hildebrandt was initially declared the Olympic champion but was later asked to face Yusneylis Guzman. Amid the chaos, she found herself in a wave of emotions and said in her interview with Justin Basch that despite feeling scared, she searched for solutions rather than getting lost in search of confidence.

"I will tell you with certainty the day before the Olympics I bawled crying because I was so afraid like that's what I kept saying, 'I'm scared, I'm so scared,' and that is like to somebody maybe looks like I don't have a lot of confidence but you know I did, there's lots of things. [at 1:00.00]

"You have to take effective actions to get to your goals. So instead of being caught up in looking for confidence or motivation or whatever, let whatever is, be what it is and take actions toward your goals."

Hildebrandt overpowered the Cuban wrestler with a decisive lead of 3-0 to claim the gold medal.