According to Michael Charlebois of the Canadian Olympic Committee on Monday, Hannah Taylor of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and Diana Weicker of Thorold. Ontario each won bronze medals at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial this past weekend in Budapest, Hungary. Weicker won the bronze medal in the women’s 53 kilogram division and Taylor won the bronze medal in the women’s 57 kilogram division.
In the women’s 53 kilogram division, Weicker beat Stalvira Orshush of Hungary 3-2 in the first round before losing to Bolortuya Bat Ochir of Mongolia 10-0 in the quarterfinals. In the Repechage, Weicker then beat Emma Jonna Denise Malmgren of Sweden 10-0, and then in the bronze medal match, beat Dominique Olivia Parrish in the United States 10-0. Bat Ochir won the gold medal, Lucia Yamileth Yepez Guzman of Ecuador won the silver medal, and Qianyu Pang of China won the other bronze medal.
In the women’s 57 kilogram division, Taylor beat Alexandra Wray Hedrick of the United States 4-3 in the first round and Davaachimeg Erkhembayar of Mongolia 5-4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Taylor lost 9-2 to Anastasia Nichita of Moldova before beating Sandra Paruszewski of Germany in the bronze medal match 11-2. Nichita won the gold medal, Kexin Hong of China won the silver medal, and Qi Zhang of China won the other bronze medal.
Team Canada won another medal on the weekend. That was a silver medal in the women’s 55 kilograms by Karla Godinez Gonzalez of Coquitlam, British Columbia. However, the women’s 55 kilogram wrestling competition is not an Olympic event, while the women’s weight classes in the women’s 53 kilograms and 57 kilograms are. The bronze medals for Taylor and Weicker will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
