Amit Elor

Amit Elor's relationship with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu predates her rise to the top of world wrestling. She began training BJJ on and off from age 12, building genuine familiarity with the gi long before she became a decorated Olympian. That early investment has grown into a purple belt — a meaningful rank reflecting real technical development rather than a cursory exploration of the discipline.

Elor's grappling credentials are formidable by any measure. Across cadet, junior, U23, and senior age groups, she has accumulated eight world wrestling championships, including two Senior World titles in 2022 and 2023, alongside an Olympic gold medal. That elite wrestling foundation gives her a rare entry point into BJJ: she arrives on the mat with world-class control, takedown instincts, and positional awareness already ingrained, then uses BJJ training to add layers that wrestling alone cannot provide.

Her engagement with jiu-jitsu is deliberate and specific. Elor favors gi training for the additional technical options it opens — lapel work, collar grips, and gi-based submissions that demand a different kind of patience and precision than wrestling. Her engagement to Mica Galvão, a prominent figure in competitive BJJ, has further deepened her immersion in the jiu-jitsu world, shaping both her training environment and her connection to the sport's community. The combination of her wrestling pedigree, her years on the BJJ mat, and her relationship to elite grappling culture makes Elor a genuinely rare crossover figure: an Olympic champion with long-term, considered investment in gi jiu-jitsu.

Discovering the Pregnancy

In 2025, Elor competed at the U.S. Wrestling World Team Trials while unknowingly five weeks pregnant. Throughout the event she experienced unusual lightheadedness, persistent fatigue, and a general sense of being off — sensations she attributed at the time to the demands of competition. Post-event blood work revealed a more complicated picture: her iron levels were severely depleted, leaving her borderline anemic, and further testing confirmed the pregnancy. As an elite athlete who had not had a regular menstrual cycle in three years due to the physiological demands of high-level training, the accumulation of symptoms suddenly came into focus. She withdrew immediately from Final X, stating plainly that if anything had happened to the baby because she chose to compete, she would have carried that guilt for the rest of her life.

Staying Active Through the Trimesters

The early weeks of pregnancy brought persistent hunger and nausea that continued through approximately 14 weeks, compounded by low iron levels that caused lightheadedness and shortness of breath during workouts well into the pregnancy. She gained approximately 35 lb (16 kg) over the nine months. Despite those challenges, Elor remained committed to staying active throughout. In her second trimester, she transitioned to drilling and controlled grappling with trusted partners in both wrestling and BJJ — continuing to flow roll in BJJ with her fiancé, Mica Galvão, and describing that training as feeling healthy and safe for both herself and the baby. She continued wrestling on the mat until 38 weeks gestation. Four days before her due date, she was observed working pads at Black House MMA, with treadmill running continuing in the days that followed. She gave birth naturally, with no complications.

The Comeback

Elor returned to drilling just two weeks after giving birth. Three and a half months postpartum, she entered the 2026 U.S. Wrestling World Team Trials at 72 kg (158 lbs) and won — facing another new mother in the finals, a striking parallel that underscored the moment's significance. Comparing the experience to competing at the 2025 trials while unknowingly pregnant, she described feeling ten times better, a direct reflection of how much her body had shifted in the intervening year.

Physical Reset and Weight Management

A significant part of that improvement came from her iron levels, which as of July 2026 were the highest of her career. She attributed the change to a physiological reset that occurred during pregnancy — her body recalibrating in ways that training alone had not achieved over the previous years. Managing a 72 kg weight class while breastfeeding introduced its own complications: the hormone relaxin, which remains present during nursing, contributed to joint discomfort in her fingers, elbows, and other joints. Once her training volume increased postpartum, however, her weight dropped more quickly than it had before the pregnancy.

Next Target

With the 2026 World Team Trials title secured, Elor set her sights on the 2026 World Championships in Kazakhstan, planning to travel with her mother and infant son as she pursues another world title on the international stage.

Consistency as a Foundation

Elor describes training and exercise as grounding forces — constants that provide structure and clarity amid the demands of elite competition and new motherhood. Her approach emphasizes consistency, gradual progress, and perseverance over dramatic gestures, a philosophy her postpartum timeline illustrates rather than merely articulates.

Competing for Her Son

Her motivation returning to competition was shaped directly by her son. She expressed it plainly: "I don't want to ever tell him that he was the reason why I stopped going after my dreams." That framing — refusing to allow motherhood to become a limitation in the story she tells her child — positions her public account of training through pregnancy and winning a major national trial three and a half months after giving birth as something more than athletic achievement. It reflects a specific and considered stance on what it means to be both a mother and a competitive athlete.

A Message for Women in Combat Sports

For women entering combat sports, her advice is direct and expansive: "The sky is the limit. Don't let anybody tell you what you can or can't do. You are so much stronger than you think. Don't be afraid to try something. Don't be afraid to fail, and just have fun with it."

Elor's dual identity as an eight-time world wrestling champion and a genuine, long-term BJJ practitioner reflects a broader openness to technical growth across grappling disciplines. She has treated jiu-jitsu not as an afterthought or a marketing exercise, but as a real avenue for developing aspects of her grappling that wrestling's ruleset cannot fully address. That crossover commitment — combined with her willingness to speak openly about the physical realities of training through pregnancy and returning to elite competition as a breastfeeding mother — has made her a compelling and distinctive voice in the broader combat sports world.