According to Chloe Morrison of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Olivia Di Bacco of Orillia, Ontario, and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Erica Wiebe of Ottawa, Ontario, each won medals at the Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial event in Kiev, Ukraine on Saturday. Di Bacco won the silver medal in the women’s 68-kilogram division, and Wiebe won the bronze medal in the women’s 76-kilogram division. Wiebe won the gold medal in the women’s 75-kilogram division at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro
In the women’s 68-kilogram division, Di Bacco defeated Danute Domikaityte of Lithuania 12-4 in the quarterfinals, and Inna Netreba of Azerbaijan, 7-3 in the semifinals, before losing to Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan. In a ridiculous rule in wrestling, in the case of a tie, whoever scores last wins. In this case, it was a 1-1 tie, but Zhumanazarova won the gold medal because she scored last. The strange scoring system in wrestling is one reason why the event almost lost its Olympic status for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Yuliana Yaneva of Bulgaria and Domikaityte each won bronze.
In the women’s 76-kilogram division, Wiebe tied Liudmyla Pavlovets of the Ukraine at five after the first round (but advanced because she scored last), and Zsanett Nemeth of Hungary 5-4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Wiebe lost 5-2 to Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan, before beating Anna Melnyk of the Ukraine 3-0 in the bronze medal match. Mae Epp of Estonia won the gold medal, Medet Kyzy won the silver medal, and Catalina Axente of Romania won the other bronze medal. The silver medal for Di Bacco and the bronze medal for Wiebe will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
