Who is Sarah Hildebrandt? All about the American wrestler with multiple World Championship medals aiming for glory at the Paris Olympics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Aug 06, 2024 09:03 GMT

Sarah Hildebrandt is one of the strong hopefuls from the USA for an Olympic podium finish. The flyweight American wrestler who competes in women's 50kg freestyle wrestling won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

Hildebrandt will begin her campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Ibtisem Doudou from Algeria in the pre-quarterfinals today (August 6).

Hilderbrandt is a multiple World Championship medalist. She won two consecutive bronze medals at the 2022 and the 2023 World Championships. The 30-year-old grappler from Granger, Indiana would love to change that color in the French capital but her journey will be far from easy.

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Sarah Hildebrandt's early life and achievements

Sarah Hildebrandt was born to Nancy and Chris Hildebrandt on 23 September 1993 in Granger, Indiana. She attended Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana before moving to King University in Bristol, Tennessee.

Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA (L) being declared the winner in the preliminaries at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 [Image Source: Getty]

While at King University, Hildebrandt participated in the Summer Universiade held in Kazan, Russia in 2013, though she returned empty-handed. She made her World Championship debut at the 2016 edition in Budapest, and she returned empty-handed again.

However, Hildebrandt's fortunes changed in 2018 when she won a silver medal at the World Wrestling Championships, held again in Budapest.

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Sarah Hilderbrandt's performances up until the Paris Olympics

Since then, Sarah Hildebrandt has never looked back. She has won seven gold medals at the Pan American Championships, including three consecutive gold medals at the 2021, 2022 & 2023 editions. She also won a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru.

Sarah Hildebrandt (L) in action at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships [Image Source: Getty]

Moreover, Hildebrandt's greatest moment of glory came when she stormed into the semifinals of the women's 50kg event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 due to delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She lost to eventual silver medalist Sun Yanan of China by just three points. However, she overcame the minor setback to win the bronze medal by pummeling Oksana Livach of Ukraine with a thumping margin of 12-1.

Apart from that, Hildebrandt has also won three medals at the World Wrestling Championships, including a silver at the Oslo edition in 2021, and two consecutive bronze medals at the Belgrade editions in 2022 and 2023, the latter also helping her earn an Olympic quota for a chance to represent the USA at the Paris Olympics.

Like every other American wrestler, Hildebrandt had to fight it out in the US Olympic Trials to earn her place on the final American squad for the Paris Olympics. At the Games, she has an easy road ahead until the semifinals, where she might face Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan, who is aiming for a fifth consecutive podium finish after having won two silver medals and two bronze medals since her Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Even if she wins this bout, Hildebrandt's job is not over. She will probably have to face Yui Susaki of Japan, the defending world champion as well as the Olympic champion, who is aiming for her second consecutive gold medal.