30 American athletes to watch at the 2024 Paris Olympics
By Nick Villano
17. Amit Elor
Wrestling
Wrestling is the sport many think of when we talk about the original Olympics in ancient times. It was well known that this was one of the spotlight competitions at the time. Today, it’s still a premier sport, but there’s a surprising record that’s about to be broken. Amit Elor will be the youngest person to ever represent the U.S. at the Olympics in wrestling. This is a sport the U.S. has been competing in since 1904.
The 20-year-old is not just riding on her youth. She’s legitimately the favorite in her weight class to win a gold medal. She’s competing in the 68kg class (roughly 150 lbs.). Not only is she competing at the highest level, she knows she could be a catalysts for her sport’s popularity with women.
Elor is already incredibly successful, winning gold medals at back-to-back World Championships in Serbia, the 2023 Pan-American Games, the last two U23 World Championships, and the last three Junior World Championships. Whether she is facing her peers or even the veterans of the sport, she’s standing at the top of the podium.
Elor hasn’t lost a match since 2019. This isn’t just her crowning. This is the start of what could be a decades-long legacy. The sport of wrestling has been dominated in the past. There’s nothing stopping Elor from doing this for her entire career. It starts in Paris.