Diana Weicker of Neil’s Harbour, Nova Scotia won a bronze medal on Thursday in the women’s 53 kilogram division at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. This was Canada’s fourth medal at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships (all by Canadian women), the most medals Canada has won at a single World Wrestling Championship since men and women combined to compete at the same World Wrestling Championship in 2005.
In the women’s 53 kilogram division, Weicker beat Estera Tamaduianu of Romania 8-3 in the round of 16 and Nina Hemmer of Germany 10-7 before losing 10-0 to Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States in the semifinals. Weicker rebounded exceptionally well and defeated Zhuldyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan 3-2 in the bronze medal repechage match. Haruna Okuno of Japan won the gold medal, Hildebrandt won the silver medal and Qianyu Pang of China won the other bronze medal.
It has been quite the year for Weicker, who is the latest Canadian women’s wrestler to have great international success. This past April, she won the gold medal in the women’s 53 kilogram division at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. The other Canadian women who won medals at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships were Justina Di Stasio of Burnaby, British Columbia in the women’s 72 kilogram division (gold), Danielle Lappage of Olds, Alberta in the women’s 65 kilogram division (silver) and Erica Wiebe of Stittsville, Ontario (bronze).
