"It was a constant relief from some of the pressure and stress"- Sarah Hildebrandt credits brother's presence as a game changer during Paris Olympics

American freestyle wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt recently reflected on how her brother Drew Hildebrandt’s presence at the 2024 Paris Olympics provided her with valuable support. This also played a significant role in her gold-medal winning performance in the women’s 50kg freestyle at the quadrennial games.

At the Paris Olympics, Sarah stormed into the finals after defeating Mongolia’s Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal (5-0) in the semis, Feng Ziqi of China (7-4) in the quarters, and Algeria’s Ibtissem Doudou (10-0) in the Round of 16. With her previous opponent Vinesh Phogat, who had defeated pre-event favorite Yui Susaki in the first round, failing to make weight the next day, Sarah was set to face Phogat’s semifinal opponent Yusneylys Guzman in the finals.

In the finals, Sarah secured a comprehensive victory after she got past the Cuban opponent by 5-0 to win her first gold and second Olympic medal, having previously collected the bronze in the same weight class in Tokyo.

Recently, Sarah appeared on Justin Basch’s podcast, where the 30-year-old described having her brother Drew with her during the Olympics as a game changer, stating:

“It's seriously amazing. Such like a game-changing thing and like for somebody to do that you know my sister also did the same thing for me in 2020. So, both of them being able to kind of put their lives and careers on hold and to come help me is like so selfless and I just it's hard to wrap my mind around how like amazing that is. But seriously having Drew there was everything.”

“People are familiar with him or know him, he is just like such a Vibe. He's just so lowkey and fun chill and like that's exactly what I needed," she added.

Sarah added how the presence of her younger brother helped her gain perspective and have the best time of her life. She said:

“It was like he just offered so much perspective of like this isn't about gold medals or takedowns or perfect technique. He just at the end of the day, my family's still there and we get to share this amazing experience together and we get closer and just kind of take all this in. It's like such a huge life experience obviously."

"So, to share that in that way was like it was a constant relief from some of the pressure and stress of obviously what the Olympics brings up so. That was so cool. We just had so much fun. It was seriously the best time of my life,” she further mentioned.

Sarah Hildebrandt’s brother Duke joined her as a training partner in January 2024

Sarah Hildebrandt (Photo by Amirreza Aliasgari - United World Wrestling/Getty Images)

Duke Hildebrandt, a former Penn State wrestler and a two-time All-American, joined Sarah Hildebrandt to help her prepare for the Paris Olympics in January 2024 after taking a leave from his job. Sarah shared about her brother’s relocation on her Instagram handle.

“I could not be more pumped to learn, train, and just hang out with him. It’s so damn cool that I’ve gotten to share this dream so closely with my family, and honestly, it’s a huge reason as to why I’ve been able to do this for so long. Their support is just bonkers!!”, she wrote.

Born to Nancy and Chris Hildebrandt, Sarah has two more siblings other than Drew, including eldest brother Cory and sister Amy.