In a match that brought the best woman wrestler from the U.S. against the best from North Korea in the 150-pound weight class, only one side looked up for the fight.
Amit Elor, who grew up in Walnut Creek, dominated North Korea’s Pak Sol Gum in a tidy 1 minute, 44 seconds, to guarantee herself at least a silver medal and a chance to fight in the gold-medal match on Tuesday.
Elor grappled her opponent for about a minute before she took her down, swung around the back side and tied up her legs. Elor wrapped both arms tightly around Sol Gum’s legs and began to twist, rotating her opponent’s body like a rotisserie chicken, earning two points for each cycle until the match was over.
Just like that, Elor had a 10-0 “victory by technical superiority.”
“One takedown, four turns and the match is over,” she told reporters in Paris.
It was her third consecutive win as she decisively out-scored all three opponents by a collective score of 28-2 on Monday during the opening round of the women’s freestyle wrestling competition, a sport that wasn’t added to the Olympics until 2004 — the year she was born.
After defeating the North Korean and guaranteeing herself a spot on the podium, Elor put her face in her hands in shock.
“I had goosebumps and I was just staring at that crowd of people cheering for me,” she said. “I can’t believe this is real. I can’t believe life is real. That little girl who started wrestling at 4 years old is still inside of me and she’s like, ‘What is happening right now? How did I go from local kids practice to an olympics stage?’ It’s insane.”
The East Bay native began taking classes at Pleasant Hill Wrestling Club. She went on to attend College Park High, where as a freshman she won all 36 matches and pinned her final opponent in 20 seconds to win a CIF state championship.
Soon she was a U-17 gold medalist at the world championships, where she became the youngest American ever to win, and she has since won eight world titles, including back-to-back at the senior level the last two years.
But that was a higher weight class. For the Olympics, she cut nine pounds to fight in the weight class she wrestled in as a freshman.
Now 20 years old, she’s the youngest American woman ever to wrestle at the Olympics. And on Tuesday she could become the youngest woman ever to win a gold medal in her event.
“My brain has only been thinking about the gold medal,” she said.
United State’s Amit Elor and North Korea’s Sol Gum Pak, left, compete during their women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling semifinal match, at Champ-de-Mars Arena, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
With a big crowd on hand in Paris, she said she’s been feeding off the energy.
“I’ve noticed this since I was little, the more people watching me the more of an urge I have to fight and explode even harder,” she said. “And I’ve developed good skills blocking things out, whether it’s thoughts, emotions or feelings.
“I’ve had a lot of traumatic life experiences too, so that helps you be able to learn how to block things out, focus on the present, living your life and I’ve used those skills out there.”
Elor is the youngest of six children. Her parents, Elana and Yair Elor, grew up in Israel but moved to the United States in 1980 when Yair received a scholarship to throw shot put and discus at Boise State, according to The Times of Israel.
Amit traveled to Israel every summer to wrestle while she was growing up and said Monday, “That’s a huge part of who I am as a wrestler today. I’ve received so much support from them and it’s been so welcoming for me.”
In 2018, she suffered tragedy when her older 23-year-old brother, Oshry, was fatally shot at his home in Pleasant Hill.
Prosecutors said two men from Georgia drove to California to set up an attempt for marijuana robbery. Two years later, a Contra Costa County jury convicted both men, including a lifetime sentence for the gunman.
Amit has posted about the loss of her brother on Facebook.
“I was 14 at the time,” she wrote. “I remember the shock, grief and fear like it was yesterday. For months, I went almost everyday to attend Oshry’s murder trial.”
She also wrote that her dad died due to complications related to COVID in 2022.
“It has always been very difficult for me to share and talk about all of this,” she wrote. “But I think that by sharing, we keep the memory of our lost loved ones alive. I hope my family’s ordeal wil help anyone who can relate.”
Her gold medal match against Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova is scheduled for Tuesday at 10:53 a.m. PT.
Back-to-back gold medals for Stanford grad
Winning the 20th gold medal for the United States and putting the Americans just one behind China on Monday was Valarie Allman, a former seven-time All-American at Stanford.
Allman wrapped up the gold medal in discus throwing before the event was over. She had three throws of 69 meters or more; the next-closest competitor was China’s Bin Feng, whose best toss of 67.51 meters earned her a silver medal.
Allman, 29, fended off emotions before her final throw, which was merely procedural. She wound up and tossed another 69-meter hurl as she let out a viscous scream, ran to her coach and began to cry. She grabbed the American flag and draped it around herself.
It was her second consecutive gold medal in the discus throw after winning the competition in Tokyo.
“It really takes so much attention and practice and focus to convince yourself that you can be accomplishing your dreams,” Allman told reporters afterwards. “You can be better than you’ve ever been.”
Valarie Allman, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s discus throw final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
She was an accomplished dancer who didn’t take up track and field until her freshman year at Silver Creek High in Hershey, Penn., where she was also the co-valedictorian of her class.
At Stanford, she majored in product design and was the U.S. discus champion. Her farthest throw as a student was 64.69 meters.
She has since become the North American record holder for the event. The Olympic record is 72.30, set by Germany’s Martina Hellmann in 1988.
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Whittaker stumbles in the 800
Stanford sophomore Juliette Whittaker couldn’t match her collegiate success at the Summer Olympics.
She had set a new school record with her championship-winning time of 1:59.61 at the NCAAs earlier this year.
In the women’s 800-meter final in Paris on Tuesday, she beat that with a time of 1:58.50.
But against Olympic competition, that was good for just ninth place.
The event was won by the remarkable Keely Hodgkinson of the United Kingdom. She finished in 1:56.72 and put the rest of the field in her dust as she led from start to finish.
Cranny outside of medal contention in the 5,000
Former Stanford standout Elisa Cranny also struggled in the women’s 5,000-meter race.
A four-time national champion who competed for the Cardinal from 2014 to 2018, Cranny finished in 11th place in the finals in Paris on Monday.
Cranny, who holds the American record in the indoor 5,000-meter, previously finished in 13th place in the outdoor event in Tokyo.
