"That Olympic semifinal changed my whole wrestling career”- Sarah Hildebrandt gets real as she opens up about loss that catalyzed her for career glory

Sarah Hildebrandt opened up about how her devastating loss in the Tokyo Olympic semi-finals acted as a catalyst for the change she needed, leading to her gold medal win in Paris 2024. Hildebrandt has been one of the most prominent names in the US wrestling domain.

Sarah Hildebrandt faced China's Yanan Sun in the semi-finals and was leading 7-0 when the latter executed a throw to win the match. That proved to be the most heartwrenching loss for Hildebrandt. She finished with bronze but walked home with the greatest lesson of her life.

In a conversation with FloWrestling, she said her approach until the Games was machine-like and lacked individuality. She was more focused on being good in her sport by looking past the 'humaneness'.

"That Olympic semifinal changed my whole wrestling career. Before the 2021 Olympics, I was this ultra-rigid, super disciplined person that was against feeling any emotions. For a long time, I had tried to suck all of the humanness out of myself for the sake of being good at wrestling.”

Following that, Hildebrandt tried to regain her trust in her abilities with the help of a sports psychologist. Despite that, she struggled to perform in the 2022 and 2023 World Championships semi-finals. She gradually found her rhythm, racking up accolades but her goal was the Olympic gold.

In Paris, the World medalist trounced Dolgorjav 5-0 to qualify for the finals and defeated Yusneylis Guzman in the finals to add an Olympic gold to her resume. Talking about her mindset in Paris, she said:

"I didn’t judge my thoughts or worry about them this time. I just thought about how lucky I was to be able to experience such a wide range of emotions. The ups, the downs — that's what being human is all about.”

---

Sarah Hildebrandt once revealed she wouldn't end her career with the glory in Paris

Sarah Hildebrandt with her medal at Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 13 - (Source: Getty)

Sarah Hildebrandt has been basking in the glory of her success since her win in the French capital. She has graced several talk shows, attended a multitude of events, and spent time with family.

She once said that she wouldn't put an official stop to her career and rather live in the present moment.

"I don't want to put like a fine stop to my career. I just want to see what each day brings, and I love being in the present moment." (Olympics.com)

She also expressed her desire to explore herself beyond wrestling.

"But I will say I'm super excited to figure out who Sarah is outside of the wrestling world. And I've been so lucky to get to grow up in this and, and be in this environment for so long. And it's truly created the woman that I am. But I want to be challenged and figure out a whole new realm of worlds out there."

Sarah Hildebrandt boasts seven Pan American Championships golds, two silvers, and two bronze medals in the Worlds, among other accolades.