Amit Elor Blames Medical Oversight for Missed Wrestling Worlds

An initial hospital visit in August that ended with a clean bill of health cost Olympic wrestling champion Amit Elor her spot at the upcoming World Championships, according to the athlete’s own account. The 20-year-old is now publicly questioning why she was cleared to resume training despite presenting with severe chest pain and elevated troponin levels, a biomarker indicating heart muscle stress.

Elor will not compete at next week’s event in Astana, Kazakhstan. Precious Wieser takes her place on the U.S. roster at 72kg.

The timeline Elor laid out in an Oct. 6 social media post points to a weeks-long diagnostic delay. She reported waking up in late August with “unbearable chest and neck pain” and going to a hospital where tests showed elevated troponin. A subsequent stress test yielded no cardiac abnormalities, she wrote, and medical staff told her nothing was wrong with her heart. She returned to the mat immediately.

“I wish things had been investigated further back in August when I first had chest pain and elevated troponin, instead of being sent home,” Elor posted. “I can’t help but wonder if knowing what was wrong back then, rather than continuing to train through it, would have given me enough time to recover and compete at Worlds.”

Her condition deteriorated rapidly. By early September, fevers hit 104.4°F even while taking ibuprofen around the clock. She attended the World Team Camp at the Olympic Training Center anyway. There, a cardiac MRI finally revealed pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart typically triggered by a viral infection. Doctors ordered her to stop all exercise and prescribed anti-inflammatories.

The fevers did not break. Elor spent most of last week hospitalized, undergoing more than 50 blood tests and an extensive workup that, according to her post, currently points to a “mysterious viral illness.”

Troponin elevation combined with chest pain generally triggers strict return-to-play protocols in competitive sports. The American College of Cardiology recommends athletes with suspected myocardial or pericardial involvement refrain from intense physical activity for three to six months pending further imaging and symptom resolution. Continuing to train through acute pericarditis carries risks ranging from prolonged recovery to arrhythmias.

The missed tournament interrupts one of the most aggressive comeback schedules in recent U.S. wrestling history. Elor became the youngest American Olympic wrestling gold medalist at the Paris Games, riding a five-year, 82-match win streak. She gave birth to her son, Aryeh, in January, qualified for the U.S. world team at 72kg just four months postpartum in May, and was preparing for both Senior and U23 World Championships before the illness forced her withdrawal from both.

“I’ve been gradually increasing exercise and testing out different workouts, it feels amazing to start training again,” Elor posted, confirming she has resumed light activity. “However, I ran out of time to get even the bare minimum preparation needed for the World Championships.”

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Wrestling 101: Competition venue for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Wrestling during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be contested at LA Convention Center Hall 2 from July 24 to July 30, 2028.