The array of accomplishments displayed at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum once brought Sarah Hildebrandt to tears.

Unfortunately, not tears of joy.

Hildebrandt moved to Colorado Springs in 2015 and said she’s visited the museum several times.

But ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which begins Aug. 5 for wrestlers, Hildebrandt recalled her anguish at the museum following her bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Games.

“I came here afterwards and I just remember it made me sad because there was a goal that I had that I didn’t achieve,” Hildebrandt said. “But it also motivated me. I remember walking out of the door ready to go and get back to work.”

Hildebrandt nearly clinched a spot in the gold-medal round in the 50-kilogram bracket in 2021.

She wrestled China’s Yanan Sun and built a 7-0 lead early in the bout. Hildebrant earned a pair of tech falls earlier in the day and hoped for a third.

But Sun cut the deficit to 7-6 in the final 9.7 seconds of the match. Then, Sun scored 4 points on a throw in the final five seconds to drop Hildebrandt to the bronze-medal match.

Sure, Hildebrandt returned home with an Olympic medal, but the loss mentally scarred the two-time Olympian.

“On that match alone, I’ve had to put a lot of work in with therapy,” Hildebrandt said. “It was a mental lapse and it wasn’t anything to do with my wrestling. In some instances, you have to look at your mistakes and have a lot of gratitude because it exposed a hole in my wrestling and in my life. I knew I had a direction for the next three years that I needed to pour into. We’ve focused on things like that and being present in my wrestling, which is the opposite of how I felt in that match.”

Hildebrandt said she’s spent several hours with sports psychologists working to tame random and unhelpful thoughts during matches.

She understands erratic thoughts will always exist, especially during the Olympics, “but I think I’m ready to handle them,” she said.

So does Terry Steiner, Team USA women’s and national team coach.

Steiner called Hildebrandt a “special athlete” and believes the 50-KG competitor has cleared the mental hurdle from Tokyo.

“She’s a two-time Olympian for a reason,” Steiner said. “She’s on track and motivated to have another shot at this gold medal. We expect good things, but I know her expectations are way higher than anything we could put on her.”

Since 2021, Hildebrandt has compiled a 31-4 record and, during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College Pennsylvania, in April, has demonstrated her renewed focus.

In the finals, Hildebrandt needed to defeat Audrey Jimenez twice to clinch back-to-back spots on the Olympic team.

Hildebrandt defeated Jimenez in their first meeting with a 10-0 win. It was rinse and repeat in their final showdown.

Hildebrandt took the 18-year-old Jimenez to school as she used Jimenez’s left leg to continually knock her off balance to score.

With 1:10 left in the second period, Hildebrandt took a final at shot at Jimenez’s leg and scored two points to give her the 10-0 victory.

As she realized she secured another spot on the Olympic roster, Hildebrandt cracked a smile that exposed her blue and white mouthpiece and pointed to the crowd as she celebrated her victory.

“She has an Olympic medal to her name and those things don’t happen by accident,” Steiner said. “That happens because they put years of their life away toward a goal and trying to accomplish something greater than themselves, and she’s showed that over the years.”

Hildebrandt recognizes her goal to capture Olympic gold is dwindling, but won’t obsess with the opportunity.

As much as she hopes to win in Paris, Hildebrandt said she’s learned to balance her passion.

“It’s like a bar of soap – you don’t want to grab it too hard otherwise it’ll slip out of your hands,” Hildebrandt said. “I feel like that’s what I’ve been doing. This is a radical acceptance of who I am and stepping on that mat and trusting the process. The rest will take care of itself.”