I'm strong, I'm confident, I'm ready.
That's the mantra Erica Wiebe repeats to herself before stepping onto the mat for a match. It's proved to be effective so far.
Wiebe successfully defended her Commonwealth Games Women's Freestyle 76kg wrestling title Wednesday, defeating opponents from Sierra Leone and England before putting away Nigeria's Blessing Onyebouchi in the final.
Down by 2, Erica Wiebe pins her opponent Blessing Onyebouchi to take gold in the Women's Freestyle 76 kg Gold Medal Final. #GC2018 #GoldCoast2018 #GoldCoastGoldRush pic.twitter.com/kICOw38xzC
— DAZN_CA (@DAZN_CA) April 12, 2018
Making her international debut in 2014, the Stittsville, Ont., native was enjoying the best season of her career when she won captured Commonwealth Games gold as a rookie. Wiebe posted an undefeated record of 36-0 that year, winning every individual tournament she entered, until the World Championships.
A favorite going into Worlds in Uzbekistan, Wiebe faced a wrestler in the quarterfinals from Estonia who she beat two times earlier that season. Within the first few seconds, Wiebe was flipped onto her back and then later, pinned. She lost the match, the only blemish on her record in 2014.
"That month leading into it, it was a tough time for me because I was having a lot of success but I was already questioning if I deserved that success, if I was as good as I was being undefeated," Wiebe told Sporting News. "I was really focusing on that I had to win.
"So what that loss allowed me, what the failure allowed me was to redefine that and reassess what it meant to be successful. I realigned my values I think with what I felt was important and that was seeking that best performance and competing, really, against myself."
Heading into the 2018 Gold Coast Games, Wiebe had plenty of expectations buzzing around her. She was not only the defending Commonwealth champion but the 2016 Olympic gold medal winner, also.
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Similar to the way Wiebe is her own competition, she her own mental regulator.
"When I'm under that pressure, I guess I just kind of embrace it but also know that the biggest expectations and the biggest pressure is coming from what I feel, what I want from myself," Wiebe said. "I believe that pressure's a privilege. It means that I'm ready and that I'm well prepared. I always look to just have my best performance when I step on the mat."
With Tokyo 2020 on the horizon, Wiebe said she will continue to train with her coach, Paul Ragusa, who, she calls "the brain behind my wrestling." While balancing a corporate job with Deloitte (a Big Four accounting organization) on top of her athletic career, she said she makes sure to nurture her passion for the sport.
"The moment I stepped onto the mats for the first time, I was like 'I love this sport.' It was so amazing," she said. "I kind of rediscover that love every moment as I have a new experience."
Whether it's running a clinic with teenage wrestlers or training with the Junior Dinos Club at University of Calgary, Wiebe reinvigorates herself with experiences that remind her why she began wrestling in the first place. Of course, her three gold medals and a chance a fourth don't hurt, either.