wrestling
Former Olympic champion wrestler Erica Wiebe termed wrestling’s exclusion from the 2026 Commonwealth Games as extremely disappointing but expressed hope that the sport will return next season. Canada’s Erica won the gold medal by defeating Kazakhstan’s Guzel Manyurova in the final of the women’s 75 kg freestyle event of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Erica, who was here at Inspire Institute of Sport for the International Women’s Wrestling Camp and ‘Wrestling Masterclass’ program being run in collaboration with United World Wrestling (UWW) and ISS, advocated that wrestling should have been included in the 2026 Commonwealth Games instead of boxing. .
Very disappointing to have only 10 games
Erica said in an exclusive interview to ‘Bhasha’ that the decision to hold the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow was very disappointing. They adopted a very different model for the games. He only has 10 games. This is very disappointing. She really wished they would have included wrestling instead of boxing. He said that he feels that this wrestling has more reach to the people. He feels that the federation is in a better position. They feel this is an opportunity to showcase their diverse strengths as great players in the sport of wrestling with the presence of India and Nigeria in the Commonwealth.
Wrestling expected to return in 2030
This Canadian wrestler said that it is disappointing. They think things will change. We don’t know what the future holds and so hopefully we will see the return of wrestling perhaps in the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Budapest 2018 World Championship bronze medalist Erica praised Olympic medalist Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia and said that there are great role models in women’s wrestling in India.
She said that she admires many Indian sportspersons, especially wrestlers. There’s a lot of respect for Bajrang on and off the mat, he’s a fantastic wrestler, incredible teammate. There are great role models in women’s freestyle wrestling in India. He said that the wrestling style of Asian wrestlers is very unique, the competition is very tough with the presence of so many countries.
(Input-PTI)