Sarah Hildebrandt

1.1. Birth and Upbringing

Sarah Ann Hildebrandt was born on September 23, 1993, in Granger, Indiana, United States.

1.2. Education

Hildebrandt pursued her higher education at King University, from which she graduated in 2015.

2.1. Early Career and International Debut

Hildebrandt began her international wrestling career representing the United States at the 2013 Summer Universiade held in Kazan, Russia, though she did not secure a medal at this event. In 2016, she participated in the 55-kg event at the 2016 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She did not win a medal, losing her initial match to Mayu Mukaida of Japan and subsequently her repechage match to Ramóna Galambos of Hungary. Her early successes included winning a silver medal in the women's 55-kg event at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2017 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

2.2. Pan American Regional Achievements

Hildebrandt has a remarkable record in Pan American regional competitions, securing multiple gold medals. She won her first gold medal at the 2013 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Panama City, Panama, in the 55-kg category. She continued her dominance by winning another gold medal in the 55-kg event at the 2015 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Santiago, Chile. In 2018, she claimed a gold medal in the women's 53-kg event at the 2018 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Lima, Peru, where she defeated Luisa Valverde of Ecuador in the final. The following year, she earned her fourth Pan American gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, again in the 53-kg category.

Later in 2019, Hildebrandt achieved a significant milestone by winning the gold medal in the women's 53-kg event at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, defeating Betzabeth Argüello of Venezuela in the final. She further extended her Pan American gold medal count in 2021, winning the women's 50-kg event at the 2021 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Her success continued in 2022, securing another gold medal in the 50-kg event at the 2022 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Acapulco, Mexico. In 2023, she won her seventh gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2.3. World Championship Achievements

Sarah Hildebrandt has been a consistent medalist at the World Wrestling Championships. In 2018, she won a silver medal in the women's 53-kg event at the World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. She secured another silver medal in the women's 50-kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway. In 2022, Hildebrandt earned a bronze medal in the women's 50-kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, by defeating Alina Vuc of Romania in her bronze medal match. She followed this with another bronze medal in the women's 50-kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, also held in Belgrade, Serbia. This performance in 2023 also earned the United States a quota place for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

2.4. Olympic Games

Hildebrandt's Olympic journey began with her earning a quota place for the United States at the 2020 Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in March 2020. She then secured her spot to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, after the U.S. Team Trials in April 2021. At the Tokyo Olympics, she competed in the women's 50-kg event. She narrowly lost her semi-final match to Sun Yanan of China, despite leading 7-2 midway through and 7-6 with only 12 seconds remaining, due to a decisive 4-point throw by her opponent in the final moments. Hildebrandt rebounded to win the bronze medal match against Oksana Livach of Ukraine.

For the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Hildebrandt secured her qualification through her bronze medal performance at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, which earned a quota place for her country. She officially qualified for the Olympics at the 2024 United States Olympic trials held in State College, Pennsylvania. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's 50-kg event. In the gold medal match, she defeated Yusneylys Guzmán of Cuba. Notably, Vinesh Phogat of India had initially qualified for the final but was disqualified for being above the stipulated weight.

2.5. Other Major Tournaments

Beyond the major championships, Hildebrandt has achieved success in several other significant international tournaments. In 2018, she won a bronze medal in the women's 53-kg event at the Klippan Lady Open in Klippan, Sweden. She also competed in the women's freestyle competition of the 2018 Wrestling World Cup. In 2019, she won the gold medal in the women's 53-kg event at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. In June 2019, she won against Katherine Shai at the Final X: Lincoln event in Lincoln, Nebraska. She also participated in the women's freestyle competition of the 2019 Wrestling World Cup. In 2021, Hildebrandt secured a gold medal in the women's 50-kg event at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane 2021 in Nice, France. Her winning streak continued in 2022, where she won a gold medal in her event at the 2022 Tunis Ranking Series in Tunis, Tunisia.

3.1. Olympic Games

• 2024 Paris: Gold medal (Freestyle 50-kg)
• 2020 Tokyo: Bronze medal (Freestyle 50-kg)

3.2. World Wrestling Championships

• 2018 Budapest: Silver medal (Freestyle 53-kg)
• 2021 Oslo: Silver medal (Freestyle 50-kg)
• 2022 Belgrade: Bronze medal (Freestyle 50-kg)
• 2023 Belgrade: Bronze medal (Freestyle 50-kg)

3.3. Pan American Games

• 2019 Lima: Gold medal (Freestyle 53-kg)

3.4. Pan American Wrestling Championships

• 2013 Panama City: Gold medal (Freestyle 55-kg)
• 2015 Santiago: Gold medal (Freestyle 55-kg)
• 2018 Lima: Gold medal (Freestyle 53-kg)
• 2019 Buenos Aires: Gold medal (Freestyle 53-kg)
• 2021 Guatemala City: Gold medal (Freestyle 50-kg)
• 2022 Acapulco: Gold medal (Freestyle 50-kg)
• 2023 Buenos Aires: Gold medal (Freestyle 50-kg)

3.5. Other Tournaments

• 2017 Krasnoyarsk: Silver medal (Freestyle 55-kg)
• 2018 Klippan: Bronze medal (Freestyle 53-kg)
• 2019 Krasnoyarsk: Gold medal (Freestyle 53-kg)
• 2021 Nice: Gold medal (Freestyle 50-kg)
• 2022 Tunis: Gold medal (Freestyle 50-kg)