PARIS — Amit Elor was quickly primping herself for her medal ceremony, slipping sweats over her wrestling singlet and then working her auburn hair into a ponytail with a red-white-and-blue tie. USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender held up his phone with the camera facing Elor so she could smooth out her eyebrows and fluff up her lashes. In just a couple of minutes, the U.S. wrestling sensation was podium-ready.
It’s not easy to get glam after the brutal, physical, occasionally nasty work of wrestling. Elor had just defeated Tokyo bronze medalist Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan 3–0 to win Olympic gold, her closest match of the competition but not one that was ever in doubt. That completed a stampede through the 68 kilogram bracket by a combined score of 31–2, and it ran her undefeated streak to 41 matches over five years.
