New Delhi: India has abundance of wrestling role models from whom she has drawn inspiration, says former Olympic champion Erica Wiebe, who won the women’s 75kg gold medal at 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Canadian also clinched bronze at the 2018 World Championship, said she admires several Indian wrestlers.
“I admire so many of the Indian sports players, particularly wrestlers. I have talked a lot about the respect on and off the mat for Bajrang. He is an incredible wrestler, incredible ally. There is just a huge presence of incredible role models in women freestyle wrestling in India,” she told PTI-Bhasha.
“The Phogat sisters, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh are not only incredible champions on the mat but the way they carry themselves and what they stand outside the mat for is truly inspiring to me.”
Erica also observed that since Asian wrestlers have a “unique” style, fighting against them is a very difficult proposition.
“Asian wrestlers have a very-very unique style of wrestling, competition is very tough with so many of these countries, especially in the lighter weight classes. It’s been so competitive, so fast, so technical, it’s a joy to watch,” she said.
‘Shocked’
The 35-year-old isn’t amused to see the “more accessible” wrestling excluded from 2026 Commonwealth Games but boxing getting the nod for the event to be held July 23 to August 2 next year.
Apart from wrestling, shooting, hockey, badminton, and cricket were left out of the upcoming edition after Australian city Victoria pulled out from hosting duty.
Glasgow agreed to host a scaled-down edition of the event with only 10 sports, leading Erica to say that wrestling should have got preference over boxing and hoped it would find a place in the roster in future editions.
“That was very disappointing outcome of the 2026 commonwealth games in Glasgow. They went for a very, very different model of the Games. They have only 10 sports. It’s a shame. I really wish that they had included wrestling over boxing,” she said.
“It’s a much more accessible sport. It’s an opportunity to showcase some of the diverse strength across the Commonwealth, like with India and Nigeria, as incredible players in the sport of wrestling as well.
“And so, yeah, it’s disappointing. I think it’ll change, it’ll shift. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, and so I really hope that maybe by the 2030 Commonwealth Games we will see wrestling return, who knows.”
Former Olympic champion Erica Wiebe named Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat from whom she said to have drawn inspiration Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
