Bay Area's Amit Elor Claims Gold At Paris Olympics, Makes History

WALNUT CREEK, CA — U.S. Olympian Amit Elor, a Walnut Creek native, won the gold medal in women's freestyle wrestling Tuesday at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The win makes her the youngest American wrestler in history to capture gold in wrestling. Kyle Snyder held the title for eight years after he won gold in men's wrestling in 2016 in Rio.

"I'm sharing this medal with my entire family, my country, with anyone who has ever helped me on or off the mat," Elor, 20, told reporters following her 3-0 win over Meerim Zhumanazarova, 24, from Kyrgyzstan.

"To become an Olympic medalist is the hardest thing in the world to do," Elor said. "But when I reached my all-time low and couldn't do it anymore, I remember what they did for me."

Elor, a two-time world champion, was already crowned the youngest American ever to win a wrestling World Championship when she was 18 years old.

If she had been born one day earlier —her birthday is Jan. 1, 2004 — Elor could’ve potentially represented America at the 2020 Olympics, but more time and experience now have her on the precipice of an Olympic gold medal, according to MMAfighting.com.

About Amit Elor

• Daughter of Elana and Yair Elor, who were born in Israel and moved to the U.S. in 1980 to attend college
• Youngest of six children—three boys and three girls
• Older sister Ronny and older brother Orry were successful wrestlers, both winning USA Wrestling Junior Nationals titles, who inspired her to join the sport
• Has a dog named Saoirse
• Has had chickens, ducks and a goose as pets
• Enjoys cooking, baking, hiking and lifting
• Participated in a variety of sports throughout her youth, including horseback riding, judo, gymnastics, rhythmic Gymnastics, cheerleading, ballet, tap dancing, tennis, taekwondo and jiu-jitsu
• Purple belt in jiu-jitsu
• Has had the same strength coach since 10 years old—David Miller of Forma Gym
• Favorite breakfast is oatmeal or Greek yogurt
• Has watched the television series "Futurama" through multiple times
• Often likes to run while listening to sad music

World Championships Experience

• 2023 Senior Worlds (Gold at 72 kg), 2022 Senior Worlds (Gold at 72 kg)

Career Highlights

• Eight-time gold medalist at World Championship events across the U17, U20, U23 and Senior age divisions—includes the freestyle and beach wrestling disciplines
• Two-time Senior World Championships gold medalist
• U23 World Championships gold medalist
• Three-time U20 World Championships gold medalist
• U17 World Championships gold medalist
• U17 Beach World Championships gold medalist
• Two-time U17 World Championships medalist
• Two-time U.S. Senior World Team member
• Pan American Championships gold medalist