#CanadaWrestling

Former world champion Di Stasio of Canada retires

Thursday, March 13, 2025 - 17:45 By United World Wrestling Press

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OTTAWA, Canada (March 13) -- After nearly 15 years of representing Canada, Justina DI STASIO (CAN) has decided to retire.

During her career, Di Stasio built an impressive resume that will go down as one of the all-time greats in Canadian wrestling history. The 32-year-old represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Di Stasio won gold medal at the World Championship in 2018, a Pan-American Games gold medal in 2019 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022. In addition, she is a multiple-time Pan-Am Championships gold medalist.

While there have been many memorable moments, a few stood out to Di Stasio, including her start with the national team, her win at the 2018 worlds, being coached on the national team by two-time Olympic medalist Tonya VERBEEK (CAN), and making her first Olympics in 2024.

“Winning worlds was a special moment, especially because I could hear my parents cheering from the stands," Di Stasio said. "It reminded me of my tournaments as a kid. It also helped me frame everything in my life better. I realized it is about the journey and not the destination. It was amazing to feel the way I did on that one day, but it was only one day. I had worked so hard in the lead up, but I realized I had to enjoy those days too. I still wanted to be the best in the world and I never didn’t train like it, but from that point, I made sure to enjoy my wrestling every day.”

That love for the sport kept Di Stasio going despite setbacks that stalled her dream of competing at the Olympics. After failing to qualify for the Rio and Tokyo Games, Di Stasio qualified for Paris 2024, eventually finishing 12th.

“Making it to the Olympics came with lots of pressure, but good pressure. I had won everything else and trained every day thinking I could be an Olympic champion. Even though it was a heart-breaking result, I know I couldn’t have worked harder and that helped me accept the result. I would have loved to make it there when I was younger, but I think I needed to be more mature to handle the result.”

Read full news on Wrestling Canada Lutte website.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW receives applications for UWW Athletes Commission election

Wednesday, July 23, 2025 - 12:34 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 23) -- The United World Wrestling Athletes' Commission will bear a new look come September.

After the July 15 deadline to submit applications for candidates, 14 wrestlers have sent their applications to be elected to the Commission. The election for the same will be held during the September World Championships in Zagreb.

Nine members, including minimum three women members, will be elected to the Athletes' Commission by secret ballot by the athletes participating in the World Championships.

The winning wrestlers will elect the Commission's chairman, who will have a seat on the UWW Bureau for the next four years, and a right to vote at the Congress.

After the careful reviewing of the applications by an ad-hoc Nomination Commission to ensure compliance with the eligibility criteria outlined in the original call for candidates, 14 wrestlers were deemed eligible for the election.

The criteria included competitive activity in the past six years, good standing of their national federation, absence of disciplinary sanctions, and a demonstrated commitment to athletes' rights, among others.

The candidates listed below have been confirmed as eligible:

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Abdellatif Mohamed AHMED (EGY)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
Jessica LAVERS-MCBAIN (AUS)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)

It is expected from the members of this commission to actively participate in the work of this commission, to be the voice of the athletes within UWW and to represent and promote the wrestlers and wrestling around the world.

Each Continent must be represented in this commission, and one of the continental members will represent the commission in the Executive Committee of the concerned Continental Council.