Walnut Creek's Amit Elor Vies For Gold At Paris Olympics

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Amit Elor, a Walnut Creek native and a graduate of College Park High School, made her Olympic debut Monday morning in women’s freestyle wrestling, where she is a gold medal favorite.

The 5-foot-7-inch Elor defeated reigning world champ Buse Tosun, 10-2, to advance to the quarterfinals and Poland's Wiktoria Choluj 8-0 to move to the semifinals.

She met North Korea's Sol Gum Pak on the mat in the semifinals and defeated Pak 10-0 to earn a spot in the gold medal final, which is set for Tuesday.

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. Winning at the Olympics would make Elor the youngest woman wrestler to ever capture gold.

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.

The weight of those expectations could crush a young athlete, but the 20-year-old Elor has been waiting for this moment her entire life, the media outlet reported.

"I don’t know if you call it imposter syndrome, but I’ve gone and I’ve won so many big competitions, but I don’t really feel very different," Elor told MMA Fighting. "I think some people might say that’s what contributes to an athlete being consistent and continuing to be successful. I don’t feel too different even after the titles that I have earned."

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