Ana Godinez Gonzalez: “Representing Canada was a huge privilege”
Progress was rapid for the freestyle wrestler, but it wasn’t until 2019 that she received Canadian citizenship and was able to represent her adopted country.
The decision to wear the maple leaf during an international competition was not difficult.
“We discovered this sport in Canada and we trained in Canada, so it felt right,” said the 62kg competitor.
Since then, Godinez has built an impressive track record, which includes victories gold and bronze at the U23 World Championships, silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, And two titles at the Pan American Championships.
**“**Representing Canada for the first time seemed unreal,” she said. “I showed up and I was in game day mode all week, even when it wasn’t game day, because all I wanted to do was win.
“I still couldn’t believe I was there for Canada. In Mexico, we talked about Canada as if it were another planet, at a very high level. So representing Canada seemed like a huge privilege to me, and it still does.
“Thanks to wrestling, I traveled the world and I didn’t realize there was so much to see.”
Today, Godinez travels the world alongside Sister Karla which is also a member of the national team at 55 kgwhile older sister Lupita is a mixed martial artist who competes Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
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