Calgarians ready to wrestle for Olympic gold

Alberta’s Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda helped send off two Calgary based Olympic wrestlers, to compete at the Rio games which open in one week.

In just a matter of days, Erica Wiebe and Jasmine Mian will be on the wrestling mat in Rio grappling for Olympic gold.

Mean says she is not worried about travelling to Rio, with pre-game concerns like Zika virus and pollution

“We’re really lucky in a sense that we are always travelling all around the world so there are risks where ever we go. But the games, in many ways, is safer for us because we have more support staff, we’re more prepared in a lot of ways, and our family has a lot of support so to be honest, I’m not afraid. There there will be hurdles I’m sure, but I’m sure we’ll overcome them.”

Thanks to an app, she has been counting down the number of days to the games for the past nine months.

Wiebe, who was sporting a gash above her right eye that needed seven stitches to close after she was head butted in training, says at this point she has no idea who she will face in her first match.

“No, no idea. We find out the draw the night before the tournament so we weigh in and then you find out the draw that night. So you have 14 hours to prepare for your first match. So we have been doing a lot of match analysis on the opponents we are going to have and I’m ready to wrestle anyone,” Weibe said.

Weibe says she is looking forward to marching in the opening ceremonies.

The Summer Olympic Games get underway on Friday, August 5th and run until Sunday the 21st.