TOKYO – Erica Wiebe will not get a chance to defend her Olympic gold medal.

The 32-year-old from Stittsville, Ont., lost in her opening round match against Epp Maee of Estonia 4-5. Wiebe, who trains with the Calgary Dinos, went down 0-5 in the first half of the match. She battled back with a takedown and exposure but ran out of time to take a lead on the Estonian.

“My only goal today was to wrestle my best,” said Wiebe. “I did that today for the last two minutes. I’m disappointed, but I feel like we did everything we could to prepare to the best of our abilities, given all these crazy circumstances we find ourselves in in 2021. I’m proud of how I showed up today.”

Maee went on to lose her quarterfinal matchup to Minagawa Hiroe of Japan. Maee’s loss means Wiebe’s tournament is over and will not have a chance to wrestle in the repechage.

 

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In 2016, Wiebe became Canada’s second Olympic champion in women’s wrestling.

“I’m so passionate, curious, and inspired by excellence. I get to live that every single day and live my dreams every single day. The journey, who I became through the process, that’s who and I am and that’s what I do every single day.”

“It’s hard to not have the day that I wanted today but it’s not the end of my story.”