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American-Israeli Amit Elor Makes History as Youngest US Wrestler to Win Gold at Olympics
Amit Elor of the United States celebrates winning gold against Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 6, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Arlette Bashizi
American-Israeli wrestler Amit Elor won the gold medal on Tuesday at the Olympics Games in Paris in the women’s freestyle wrestling 68-kg finals, making her the youngest wrestler in the history of the US to win a gold at the Olympics and also a first-time winner.
The 20-year-old, who is competing in the Olympic Games as part of Team USA, extended her five-year winning streak and also became the third woman from the US to win Olympic gold in wrestling, as well as the youngest US woman to medal in wrestling at the Olympics.
She beat Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan 3-0 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris after taking a lead early on in the match with a takedown and defending herself against her opponent’s attacks throughout the remainder of the match. Zhumanazarova became the first Kyrgyz athlete to win two Olympic medals in any sport. The bronze medal went to Buse Cavusoglu of Turkey.
Elor was born in California on New Year’s Day 2004. She lives in New York, is the youngest of six siblings, and started wrestling at the age of four. Her late father Yair and mother Elana are both from Ashkelon and immigrated to the United States from Israel in the 1980s. Her brother Oshry was killed in a home invasion in 2018 and Yair died in 2022 at the age of 64.
Amit spoke only Hebrew until she was two years old and has trained in Israel while visiting family. She said in 2022, “I love Israel. In some ways I feel like I am representing them also [when competing].” Both of her grandfathers are Holocaust survivors.
After her Olympic win, the athlete admitted that before her match, she said affirmations to herself about becoming an Olympic champion.
“You know what I did today actually, which is also going to sound crazy, to help myself — I constantly, throughout the day, told myself ‘You’re gonna become an Olympic champion today.’ Literally, again and again and again. I did not stop,” she said.
“Normally I don’t do that in competitions,” she added. “But today, I was like, I don’t wanna get in my head. So I was like, again and again, ‘You’re gonna become an Olympic champion.’ And I was like, I don’t care if it’s crazy. I need to believe this. I need to go out there confident. And it helped me. I was able to go out there, and get my ties and not get in my head too much.”
At the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Amit won gold and became the youngest US wrestler, male or female, to become a world champion. She is a two-time world champion in the 72-kg category — which she also won in 2023 — and won senior, under-23, and under-20 world titles in the span of three months in 2022, making her the youngest American world champion at the age of 18. She retained her titles in 2023 when she won the Pan American Championships.
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FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says
FILE PHOTO: FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday the agency was aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.
While he did not provide further details, Patel said in a social media post: “Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available.”
According to CBS News, which cited witnesses at the scene, a suspect attacked people with Molotov cocktails who were participating in a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack in the city involving several victims. It has not released further details but a press conference was expected at 4 p.m. Mountain Time (2200 GMT).
The attack comes just weeks after a Chicago-born man was arrested in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
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