"Yui Susaki loses and that place erupts like so crazy"-Sarah Hildebrandt opens up on her team's reaction after shocking upset at Paris Olympics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Sep 21, 2024 06:44 GMT

From fighting her way to the top to an unexpected Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA has seen it all. She managed to upgrade her bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics, though it wasn't the way she wished to.

The Olympic champion in women's freestyle wrestling (50 kg) recently opened up about several issues, including her journey at the Paris Olympics on Baschamania The Podcast by Justin Basch. Sarah Hildebrandt also revealed how she and her team felt when top favorite Yui Susaki was upstaged by Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, in the dying seconds of the opening bout.

Hildebrandt mentioned,

"Umm yeah, it was definitely chaotic...... So I was just kinda doin my warmup, I'd like to keep it pretty light hearted, dance, and have some fun...... But, she [Yui Susaki] goes down, and loses, and that place erupts like, so crazy.... People are celebrating like, I see women in my weight class celebrating...."

However, Sarah Hildebrandt was quick to draw the line upon seeing her coaches getting excited over the same. She added,

".....I'm like enough, we're not celebrating. I didn't came to wrestle her, I came to wrestle the person in front of me [Sarah Hildebrandt's opponents], and we can't get wrapped up in the emotion of her [Yui Susaki] going down, like that's not what we came here to do."

Sarah Hildebrandt had won the bronze medal in the women's freestyle wrestling (50kg) at the Tokyo Olympics. However, at the Paris Olympics, she surprised Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal of Mongolia in the semifinals to proceed to the finals. She defeated Yusnelys Guzman Lopez of Cuba to win the Olympic gold medal.

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Sarah Hildebrandt at the Paris Olympics

Sarah Hildebrandt celebrating her victory at the Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

When Sarah Ann Hildebrandt made it to the Paris Olympics, not much was expected from her. She had consistently won medals on the international stage, winning a bronze medal for the second consecutive time at the World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade in 2023.

However, an Olympic gold medal was certainly not what many would have expected from her even though she had won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. But Sarah Hildebrandt had other ideas.

The American grappler began her campaign by convincingly pummeling Ibtissem Doudou of Algeria, with a huge margin of 10-0. In the quarterfinals, Hildebrandt faced World Championships bronze medalist Feng Ziqi of China, whom she defeated by a close margin of 7-4.

Sarah Hildebrandt then faced Mongolian wrestler Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal, the silver medalist at the previous year's World Championships. However, Hildebrandt was in no mood to relent and defeated the Mongolian wrestler by a convincing margin of 5-0.

Sarah Hildebrandt then Vinesh Phogat, who had surprised everyone by cruising to the finals, the first such instance for an Indian female wrestler at the Olympics. However, only hours before the bout, Phogat was disqualified for being overweight. As a result, Cuban wrestler Yusnelys Guzman Lopez, who lost to Phogat in the semifinals, was allotted a place in the finals.

However, Sarah Hildebrandt proved to be a tough nut to crack. She defeated Lopez with ease by 3-0. With that, Hildebrandt became the first American female wrestler to win an Olympic gold in the 50kg category, and only the third American female wrestler to have won an Olympic gold medal after Helen Maroulis and Tamyra Mensah-Stock.