Elor opens Olympics in style; goes for gold on Tuesday

Photo: Two-time World champ Amit Elor (top) had no trouble in beating another World champ in Turkey’s Buse Cavusoglu Tosun in a first-round match at 68 kilos in women’s freestyle. The American will try to win her first Olympic title Tuesday night in Paris. (Justin Hoch photo)

By Tristan Warner

PARIS – It was an action-packed first day of wrestling at the 2024 Summer Olympics, as American Amit Elor headlined the evening by advancing to the 68-kilogram finals in her Olympic debut at the Champ de Mars Arena.

WIN editor Bryan Van Kley (left) and assistant editor Tristan Warner are in Paris all week covering the Olympics. Click on the image to view today’s video recap.

Overall, the United States posted a combined 3-1 record on the day, as Elor reeled off three consecutive victories while Adam Coon dropped his opening … and only … match in 130-kilogram Greco-Roman action, falling short of a medal in his first Olympics.

Elor shines in Olympic debut, goes for gold

Elor, a native of Walnut Creek, Calif., drew top-seeded Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Turkey) and dominated the reigning Senior level world champion by a 10-2 margin in the opening round.

In similar fashion, Elor applied constant pressure and controlled the mat against quarterfinal opponent Wiktoria Choluj (Poland) en route to an 8-0 victory.

“I’ve never been an athlete with a lot of confidence,” Elor said to the surprise of everyone in the media mixed zone. “So, it’s been quite a journey for me to truly believe in myself. But I’ve had such an amazing support system over the last couple years. Everybody has been telling me how much they believe in me. I think it’s time for me to believe in myself.”

Her semifinal bout, taking center stage before the energized Paris crowd, lasted less than two minutes, as Elor capped off her second takedown of the bout by locking up a devastating match-ending leg lace on her way to a 10-0 technical superiority at the 1:44 mark.

Elor — seeking her first Olympic gold medal and ninth combined World championship, including two Senior World titles, in the past four years — will do battle with Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in Tuesday evening’s finals, which are set to start at 7:15 p.m. local time. (There is a six-hour difference between Paris and the eastern time zone in the U.S.)

“I’ve just constantly telling myself before every match, ‘You’ve been training your whole life for this. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now, more than ever, you have to go out there and to show up and from the very first second to the very last second.’ Win or lose, if I do that, I know I’m going to walk away proud.

“I had goosebumps. I was staring at that crowd of people cheering for me, thinking, ‘I

can’t believe this is real. As the match ends, I look around and think, ‘Cherish this

moment, enjoy this moment, feel it. And that’s how today has gone for me.’

Coon eliminated after loss to reigning World Champ

American Adam Coon drew reigning 2023 World Champion Amin Mirzazadeh of Iran in the preliminary bout and fell by a 3-1 decision.

Competing in his first Olympics, Adam Coon (back) drew defending World champ Amin Mirzazadeh of Iran and lost 3-1 at 130k in Greco-Roman. (Justin Hoch photo)

Mirzazadeh was awarded a point for passivity and scored on a match-winning gutwrench midway through the first period, as Coon tacked on a late passivity point but was unable to overcome the deficit.

“He tricked me,” Coon stated in regard to the match-deciding gutwrench. “I thought he was going to left and he went to the right.”

The former NCAA finalist from Michigan was eliminated from competition when Mirzazadeh was defeated in the quarterfinals by Cuba’s four-time Olympic champion Mijain Lopez, who also reached Tuesday’s final. (Lopez hopes to become the first Olympian to win five titles in the same event.)

“I went out swinging,” Coon reflected. “I got after it. I was able to really push the pressure. I wanted to see if I could get him to break. I was able to implement exactly what I wanted to do on him. I put everything I had into it. And for it to not be enough, hurts a little bit,” Coon said as he worked to control his emotions.

United States Greco coach Herb House proudly recapped Coon’s showing amid difficult circumstances.

“I think Adam did great,” he said. “He went against the World champ, which is a tough first draw. One little mistake in par terre cost us the match. I’m really proud of Adam. He pushed himself and gave all he had. That’s really all I’ve asked of these guys.”

Hildebrandt, Bey and Rau receive draws

Americans Sarah Hildebrandt (women’s freestyle) and Kamal Bey and Joe Rau (both Greco-Roman) received their draws for Tuesday’s first-round of action, slated to begin at 11 a.m. local time.

Hildebrandt, the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, enters the Paris Games as the No. 6 seed at 50 kilograms in women’s freestyle. The Granger, Ind., native will face off against Nigeria’s Ibtissem Doudou of Algeria in round one.

Bey, a late entry into the field for his first Olympic Games, will represent the United States at 77 kilograms. The Oak Park, Ill. native drew third-seeded Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan, a two-time returning World champion and 2020 Olympic silver medalist.

Representing the United States at 97 kilograms and also in his first Olympic action, Rau will square off against third-seeded Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran), a 2021 World champion.

Viewers can stream tomorrow’s action live on Peacock beginning at 5 a.m. ET.

Monday’s Match Highlights

Women’s Freestyle

68 kg – Amit Elor

Round 16 – Elor dec. Buse Tosun (Turkey), 10-2 – In a battle between two 2024 World champs, Elor (who competed at 72 kilos last fall), scored three takedowns — two in the second period — against the 68-kilo champ from Turkey. Elor controlled much of the first period by earning three stepouts to go with a takedown to lead 5-0 at the break. Tosun, who was also called for passivity in the second period, did score a takedown with 16 seconds left.

Quarterfinal — Elor dec. Wiktoria Choluj (Poland), 8-0 — Elor, who defeated Choluj while winning the U23 World Championships in 2023, was very effective with a 2-on-1 attack, which led to two takedowns and a pushout in the first period to lead 5-0. Elor added a passivity call against Choluj in the second frame and ended the scoring when she countered a shot for a takedown with 21 seconds left.

Semifinal — Elor won by TF over Sol Gum Pak (North Korea), 10-0 — Elor needed a little over a minute to score her only takedown of the match, then turned that into a tough leg lace that created four turns that ended the bout with 1:16 left in the first period.

Greco-Roman

130 kg – Adam Coon

Round 16 – lost to Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran), 3-1 — All the points came after each wrestler was called for passivity — happening in each period — but it was the 2023World champ from Iran who added two more points from a gutwrench midway through the first period. Coon earned a passivity point with 2:25 left in the match but could not turn Mirzazadeh. Coon was eliminated when Mirzazadeh lost his next match 3-1 to Cuba’s four-time Olympic champ Mijain Lopez.