By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling

PARIS, France – Amit Elor, the 20-year-old sensation from the United States in women’s freestyle wrestling, has powered her way into the gold medal finals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

She won three dominant matches during the day, including a rapid-fast 10-0 technical fall over Sol Gum Pak of North Korea in Monday night’s semifinals in 1:44. Elor scored a go-behind takedown, then locked up an ankle lace, turning Gum Pak for two points four times in a row to close out the match.

Elor will battle Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the finals on Tuesday night. Zhumanazarova was a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and a three-time age-group World medalist.

During Monday’s first session, Elor dispatched 2023 World champion Buse Cavusoglu Tosun of Turkey, 10-2, then shut out Wiktoria Choluj of Poland, 8-0 in the quarterfinals.

Elor entered her first Olympics after winning Senior World gold medals at 72 kg. Her 2022 World title made her the youngest U.S. Senior World champion in any style or gender. Elor has never lost a match on the Senior level since her debut in the 2022 season.

Elor has won eight UWW World titles in her career, including three at the U20 level, two at the U23 level and one at the U17 level.

A native of Walnut Creek, Calif., Elor won a California state girls high school title as a freshman for College Park High School, then turned her focus entirely on the international wrestling style, freestyle.

In Greco-Roman, two weight classes determined their finalists, 60 kg and 130 kg. The USA did not qualify for the 60 kg bracket.

Adam Coon of the USA was defeated in his opening match at 130 kg by the No. 1 seed and 2023 World champion Amin Mirzazadeh of Iran, 3-1. Mirzazadeh lost in the quarterfinals to four-time Olympic champion and five-time World champion Mijian Lopez of Cuba, which knocked Coon out of the competition.

Lopez is attempting to become the first athlete in any sport to win an Olympic gold medal in their specific discipline in five straight Olympics. Lopez scored a first-period gut wrench and stopped Sabah Shariati ofAzerbaijan, 4-1 to reach his fifth Olympic Games finals. He ties Wilfried Dietrich of Germany, a two-style wrestler, by guaranteeing himself a fifth Olympic wrestling medal. Lopez will battle Yasmani Acosta of Chile in the finals. Acosta, who became the first Olympic wrestling medalist for Chile with his semifinals win, is originally from Cuba.

The finals at 60 kg in Greco-Roman will feature Kenichiro Fumita of Japan against Liguo Cao of China. Fumita knocked off top seed Zholaman Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan, 4-3. Cao scored a takedown on the buzzer for a 3-3 criteria decision over Se Ung Ri of North Korea.

The repechage rounds in these three weight classes will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Paris time. The medal matches will be held at 7:30 p.m. here. Paris is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.  Tuesday also is the start of competition at 77 kg and 97 kg in Greco-Roman and 50 kg in women’s freestyle.

All of the action is live on Peacock.

OLYMPIC GAMES PARIS 2024

At Paris, France, August 5

Finals pairings

Greco-Roman 60 kg - Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) vs. Liguo Cao (China)

Greco-Roman 130 kg - Mijain Lopez (Cuba) vs. Yasmani Acosta (Chile)

Women's freestyle 68 kg - Amit Elor (United States) vs. Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)

Semifinal results

Greco-Roman 60 kg

Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) dec. Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan), 4-3

Liguo Cao (China) dec. Se Ung Ri (North Korea), 3-3

Greco-Roman 130 kg

Mijain Lopez (Cuba) dec. Sabah Shariati (Azerbaijan), 4-1

Yasmani Acosta (Chile) dec. Lingzhe Meng (China), 1-1

Women's freestyle 68 kg

Amit Elor (United States) tech fall Sol Gum Pak (North Korea), 10-0, 1:44

Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) dec. Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria), 3-1

U.S. Women’s freestyle results

68 kg – Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/NYC RTC), in finals

WIN Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Turkey), 10-2

WIN Wiktoria Choluj (Poland), 8-0

WIN Sol Gum Pak (North Korea), tech fall 10-0

Gold Medal finals – vs. Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)

U.S. Greco-Roman results

130 kg - Adam Coon (Fowlerville, Calif./New York AC/Cliff Keen WC), eliminated

LOSS Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran), 3-1