First lady Michelle Obama got an unexpected boost during her visit with Team USA on Friday -- literally. Olympic wrestler Elena Pirozhkova picked her up.

The 5-foot-5  wrestler said she wanted to do something different to greet the first lady as she made the rounds through the team's training center in London.

"I thought I can't just hug her like everybody else," Pirozhkova said, according to USA Today.

And that's how she ended up hoisting the president's wife into the air.

"I hugged her, and then I asked her if I could pick her up. I think she was nervous. I went slow. I just picked her up. I wanted to ask her permission. There was security all around. And she gave it. I will only meet her once. I wanted to do something different," Pirozhkova said.

Teammate Clarissa Chun captured the moment on camera, posting the photo on Twitter with the caption: "Elena picked up the First lady."

Here's Pirozhkova afterward, talking about the experience:

Pirozhkova won a silver medal at the world championships in 2010, according to Yahoo! Sports.