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| Human Interest | |
|---|---|
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Reading inspirational books, trying new sports, watching sport and fitness programmes on television, going to the beach. She also likes to listen to music and dancing. (FILA, 12 Jul 2008, ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) |
| Injuries | She missed selection for Canada's 2004 Olympic Games team after she separated her shoulder in her second bout at Canada's 2004 Olympic trials. (yorku.ca, 01 Oct 2006) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Defeating six-time world champion Christine Nordhagen at the 2003 Canadian Championships. (yorku.ca, 01 Oct 2006) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | After industrial action put an end to high school sports in her district she told her friends that she would pick the first sport offered once a new agreement was reached. The first extracurricular sport offered was wrestling and she stuck to her word. |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | Her family. (ohenewa.ca, 24 Apr 2008) |
| Awards and honours | In 2001 she was anmed the International Most Outstanding Female Wrestler. (ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) She was named the Most Outstanding Female Wrestler at the 2002 and 2003 Canada Cup. (ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) She was the senior Athlete of the Year for the Ontario Amateur Wrestling 2003/2004 season.(ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) She was awarded the Ghanaian Canadian Achievement Awards for sports in 2003. (ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) In 2003 she was named the Outstanding Women's Wrestler from the Canadian Senior Championships (ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) She was named the Most Outstanding Female Wrestler at the 2005 Dave Schultz International (ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) She collected the HBC Athlete of the Moneth award in June 2007. (ohenewa.ca, 23 Aug 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Dave Mair, Doug Cox, Mark McCoy |
| Training Regime | She trains for five hours every other day. |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | She started wrestling in her first year of high school in 1993 |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "Make the most of knowing that each day you are alive gives you a new day to try life again." (ohenewa.ca, 24 Apr 2008) "In wrestling, everything has to work together. You've got to have strength, speed and flexibility. You can't perfect a move." (yorku.ca, 01 Oct 2006) |
| Other information | AMBASSADOR She is part of the RBC Olympic program which hires both Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes as community ambassadors who bring messages of excellence and leadership to Canadian communities. She is also an athlete ambassador for KidSport Ontario, an organisation which helps overcome the financial barriers that exist in families so that all kids have the opportunity to participate in organised sport and experience the benefits of active living. Last year she also worked with the ChangeTheWorld: Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge where she made a video blog explaining why it is important to volunteer and to challenge the world to help our youth. “I am very passionate about youth as they are our future. They remind you where you were before you figured out what you were good at”. (athletescan.com, 23 Aug 2010) ALTERNATE She travelled to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens as part of Canada's alternate team, but didn't compete. (yorku.ca, 01 Oct 2006) AFRICAN INFLUENCE Although born in Canada she moved with her family to Accra, Ghana at the age of three as her immigrant parents were keen for her to get in touch with her roots. The family lived there for five years and she learned one of the country's native languages before they returned to Canada. (athletescan.com, 23 Aug 2010) OTHER ACTIVITIES She had a spell as the assistant coach of the University of Guelph's women's wrestling programme. (mathstat.uoguelph.ca, 16 Aug 2005) COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT When she was at high school she joined a team that gave motivational talks to elementary school kids. She went into schools about four times a year telling the children tales of glory and defeat and that her success had come with discipline, hard work, setting goals and learning from her mistakes. (yorku.ca, 01 Oct 2006) YOUTH PRODIGY In 1997 she became the youngest woman in Canada to make the senior national wrestling team (athletescan.com, 23 Aug 2010) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Guelph, ON, CAN |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Guelph Wrestling Club: Guelph, ON, CAN |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Administration Studies - York University: Toronto, ON, CAN |