U of C wrestling legend Wiebe named to Canada West Hall of Fame
Olympic gold medallist from 2016 on track to defend her title in Tokyo
From not making the varsity team during her rookie year at the University of Calgary to Olympic champion, Erica Wiebe's Hall-offame story is an inspiring one.
The 2016 Olympic gold medallist was announced Tuesday as the latest inductee in the Canada West Hall of Fame.
A five-year student-athlete with the Dinos wrestling team between 2007-12, Wiebe was a three-time CIS gold medallist as a student-athlete, helping the Dinos to three conference titles and a national championship.
But it wasn't always easy for Wiebe, who used her time at the University of Calgary to build on her love of the sport and grow into elite company.
While with Calgary, Wiebe was a three-time CIS gold medallist in the 72-kilogram division (2009, '11, '12) and part of three Canada West team championships (2008, '09, '11), along with one CIS championship team (2009).
During her final university season in 2011-12, she was also named Canada West's outstanding wrestler and winner of the conference's student-athlete community service award.
Those accomplishments capped off her development at the university level — a place where she transformed into an Olympic hopeful.
“One of the beauties of Erica Wiebe's development in mind as she was very steadily improving,” said Dinos head coach Mitch Ostberg.
“She wasn't the most successful competitor in her early years of university, but eventually she grew into being a Canadian champion in university wrestling.”
“That first year at the University of Calgary, I didn't make the varsity team,” Wiebe said.
“In fact, I really didn't score a single point in practice that whole year, but I had the opportunity at the end of the season to compete at the junior national championships — I went, and I won.”
She went on to use a loss at her first world juniors as more fuel on her path to becoming an Olympic champion.
After a steady progression on the international scene, Wiebe reached the top of her sport in 2016, winning gold at the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Her win in the 75 kg division, joining Tonya Verbeek and Carol Huynh as Canada's only female Olympic champs.
“I played a lot of sports as a kid,”
Wiebe said. “But in high school, there was a sign posted outside the gymnasium door that said co-ed wrestling practice, and I was like, `Wrestling, what is this sport?' And from that first moment, I fell in love with the sport.”
At the time, Wiebe's Olympic win was her third on the international scene after topping the podium at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (75 kg) and 2014 world university games (75 kg).
She added a fourth international gold at the 2018 Commonwealth
Games in Australia, before capping of her remarkable four-year run with a bronze medal at the 2018 world wrestling championships in Budapest. In addition to the energy she dedicates to her sport, Wiebe is active in inspiring the next generation of athletes through her work for Fast & Female and Right to Play. Wiebe has secured a spot at her second Olympic Games, as she looks to defend her gold at the Tokyo Olympics.