Tough loss for Canada's Ana Godinez Gonzalez in women's 62kg bronze wrestling match

PARIS — There was heartbreak for Canadian wrestler Ana Paula Godinez Gonzalez on Saturday, as she came up short in the bronze-medal match in the women's 62-kilogram freestyle division at the Paris Olympics.

The 24-year-old from Burnaby, B.C. lost to Grace Jacob Bullen of Norway by a score of 11-0 after getting pinned down early in the first period of the match.

The Canadian stayed crumpled on the floor of the Champs-de-Mars arena as her opponent celebrated and appeared inconsolable after her match. Her coach, Raj Virdi, said her whole team was taking it hard.

"She started wrestling about seven, eight years ago and she’s put every single thing — blood, sweat and tears — into the sport," he said. "And coming up short, it’s very sad for an athlete."

The match was declared a victory by technical superiority — without a point scored by the opponent.

"Bullen came out a little strong and we got caught in the leg lace, and that was the match," said Virdi, who noted that Godinez Gonzalez had beaten Bullen earlier this year at a ranking series.

"It’s obviously a tough loss," he said.

Earlier Saturday, Godinez Gonzalez beat Romania’s Kriszta Tunde Incze 2-0 in a repechage to reach the medal round.

Godinez Gonzalez began her tournament with a win against France's Ameline Douarre before falling to Sakura Motoki of Japan by an 11-0 score.

Motoki went on to win the gold medal against Iryna Koliadenko of Ukraine with a 12-1 score. Aisuluu Tynybekovak of Kyrgyzstan won the second bronze.

Godinez Gonzalez, a first-time Olympian, moved to Canada at age seven after her family was forced to flee her native Mexico.

She originally picked up wrestling at 16 to improve her rugby skills, and ended up falling in love with the sport. Her successes have included two gold medals at the Pan American Championships and a fifth-place finish in the women’s world championships in 2022.

She also has two sisters who compete in combat sports — one as a wrestler, one as a UFC martial artist.

But on Saturday, she was in no mood to tell her story, or to take comfort in reaching an Olympic medal match.

"She wrestled hard, she had a tough tournament," Virdi said. "Coming up here to the bronze medal match is awesome to see but not coming back with a medal is upsetting to us."

He said the next step for the athlete would be to head home, have a rest and "see what the future holds."

It was a tough day for Canada's wrestlers all around.

In other action, Coquitlam, B.C.'s Justina Renay di Stasio lost her match against Yasemin Adar Yigit of Turkey in the women's freestyle 76-kilogram division.

Amarveer Dhesi of Surrey, B.C. also dropped a repechage to Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan in the men’s freestyle 125-kilogram.

But while Canada's wrestlers are leaving Paris empty-handed, Bullen was ready to celebrate after becoming the first Norwegian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal. She said the victory felt especially sweet coming off her own semifinal loss to Motoki the previous day.

"It's just the mindset of switching from losing something that was kind of going my way but coming back here and taking a medal," she told reporters. "Just knowing that I have the task of being the first one to do it from Norway was a big motivation for me."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2024.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press