2018 World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt has announced that she will make the move from 53 kg down to 50 kg for the 2020 Olympic year. Former world number 1 Sarah is currently ranked number 3 in the 53kg category as she lost out to Vinesh Phogat in the repechage rounds to finish poor 9th in the 2019 world wrestling championships in Nur-Sultan.
“Moving down to 50 had crossed my mind, but it wasn’t necessarily something I was planning on, but then in September, it was actually discussed with me and it just evolved from there. So it had been an option for a while, but it wasn’t really set in stone until a couple of months ago,” she was quoted by USA Wrestling.
Over the last quad, Hildebrandt has been one of the top women’s freestyle wrestlers in the world at 53 kg, winning a World silver medal in 2018, Pan American Championship golds in 2018 and 2019 as well as a Pan American Games gold in August. She also helped Team USA to its first podium finish in eight years at the 2019 World Cup and has claimed several other major international medals.
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A resident-athlete at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., Hildebrandt has some of the best resources in the nation to help her make the transition to 50 kg smoothly.
“The most important thing to me is that my energy or my love for the sport is never compromised. That was a big factor in this decision,” Hildebrandt said. “With my safety in mind, the coaches and I agreed that I would go down only if I could do it carefully. At that point, we did some body composition tests with our athletic trainer Corey James, and met with Rob Skinner, our dietician, and our strength and conditioning coaches Mason Walters and Brandon Stone, to lay out a good plan, so I could do it slowly and wisely. For me, this transition has been about jumping on it early to make changes and cleaning up my diet a little more, even though I already eat pretty clean. It might also mean that I have to add an extra cardio session here or there and maybe wear a long-sleeve shirt instead of a short-sleeve. It’s really been a smooth transition. I got to enjoy the holidays and I have a couple of weeks until I need to make weight, so there is no issue there. It’s nice.” she told USA Wrestling.
Hildebrandt will make her debut at the new weight in mid-January as she heads to the Matteo Pellicone in Rome, Italy, for the first UWW Rankings Series event of 2020.
