Canada’s Erica Wiebe, Gold Medal Wrestler, Streaking To Brilliance

Streaking is the act of running naked through a public place as a prank, dare, an act of protest or a confirmation of complete insanity.

It is often associated with sporting events but can occur in more secluded areas. It usually involves running quickly which also reflects the original meaning of the word before it became associated with nudity. Streakers are often pursued by sporting officials or by the police.

Understandably most around the world are glad that streaking at sporting events is no longer popular.

Canada’s Erica Wiebe, the 27-year-old freestyle wrestling sensation, won gold by defeating Kazakhstan’s Guzel Manyurova in the 75-kilogram final at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Erica is on one mean streak.

Attired in a singlet.

She had an incredibly successful 2014 season when she won every individual tournament she entered, a streak of 36 matches.

Sports Officials are pursuing this fantastic freestyle Streaker, but fortunately not the police.

Her winning streak is incredibly impressive.

Our shining north star is also the current Commonwealth Games champion in the same weight class, having won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Her victory in Rio allows her to follow in the footsteps of two-time Olympic winner Carol Huynh, the winner of Canada’s first-ever gold in women’s wrestling in Beijing eight years ago, and Tonya Verbeek, who finished and stood tall on the podium at three separate Games.

Erica came to Calgary eight years ago to chase her Olympic dream and we are so glad that dreams can indeed come true.

“Even when I was very depressed, I could hold on to something. It seems that I have always had that streak of gold that I could hold on to.”… Michael Schenker

Why don’t we take a peek at her history and learn something special.

We meet her at her website ericawiebe.ca where her story reads like a fairytale of hard work and sacrifice fulfilled. “Erica grew up in the town of Stittsville, Ontario dreaming of becoming a soccer super-star. Her passion for the sport continued on throughout elementary and onto high school. As a naturally competitive individual, she was involved in a variety of the standard “Canadian” sports until that one fateful day in Grade 9 when the sign for Co-Ed Wrestling practice went up…The attraction to wrestling was immediate but it took a couple of years to transition and for the dream to evolve into the determined conquest it is today.

That dream required moving across the country as a young, optimistic athlete and setting up base in Calgary, AB to pursue a degree in Kinesiology, represent the U of C Dinos, and continue striving towards excellence as a member of Team Canada.

Today, Erica is a full-time athlete training hard to be her best at the 2016 Olympic Games. She is an active ambassador for Fast & Female, Right to Play & KidSport Calgary.”

Her extensive training and making the decision to become a fulltime athlete has paid off.

The ground swell support of her community has been instrumental in assisting her in blossoming.

Playing an important role in getting Erica to the University of Calgary was Canadian women’s wrestling pioneer Christine Nordhagen, who was a Dinos assistant at the time and is now with the national program.

The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They were known as the “Dinosaurs” but usually referred to as the “Dinos” until 1999, when the name was officially shortened.

We always love to travel to Canada.

Let’s visit Erica’s home of Stittsville.

Stittsville is a close knit suburban community, a part of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Stittsville is immediately to the southwest of Kanata, and about 19 miles west of west of Downtown Ottawa.

Stittsville is also ideally located for reaching many of the major center in Ontario and Quebec.

The educational site stittsvilleva.com provides some insights on going from A to B. “OC Transpo express commuter buses connect Stittsville to downtown Ottawa in the morning and in the afternoon, and there is an all-day bus service to the major shopping center in Ottawa. This service provides easy connections to both Ottawa and Carleton Universities and Algonquin College – a major benefit for students and those employed outside regular working hours.”

The first settlers to the area were Irish soldiers, arriving in the 1820s. The town itself was born in the 1850s by Jackson Stitt, for whom the town is named; he was also the first postmaster in the area.

Since the extension of the Queensway in the 1970s made travel from Ottawa quicker and easier, Stittsville has experienced rapid growth; it transformed from a quiet farming community of under 500 people to a suburb of 20,000, in just over 25 years. Many residents are employed in Ottawa‘s high-tech industry or the federal government.

When you view some of the region’s photos, it appears to be a very relaxed, clean and community oriented place to grow up.

Erica is absolutely coming from a good place and it shows.

Her community is still madly in love with her.

At the informative Canadian site ucalgary.ca, regarding her Olympic triumph, they share, “A large gathering watched it all unfold on campus, including Dinos wrestling Coach Mitch Ostberg, who coached Wiebe while she competed for the Dinos in Canadian Interuniversity Sports.

“Erica is a workhorse and she just accepted the workload that a coach has demanded of her for so many years and has been a spirited competitor all along and I think it showed in her final match,” Ostberg said.

The gold medal will inspire more young female wrestlers to pursue the Olympics.”

So very true.

Watching online videos of Erica wrestling and excelling are thrilling. She works out to a motto of stay hungry, be humble. It’s clearly working.

In an interview she sums her perspective up with passion. “I love this sport and I never thought I’d be an Olympic champion, but today I had my best day. It’s amazing.”

Erica is amazing.

**fciwomenswrestling.com article, ericawiebe.ca photo credit**

What shines through in watching a number of her gregarious conversations and matches is that she has harnessed both the mental and emotional skillsets to be on top.