Braxton Stone-Papadopoulos (born June 23, 1995) is a Canadian

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

. She won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

. She has been in competition with fellow world champion teammate

Justine Bouchard Justine Bouchard (born January 12, 1986) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler from Calgary, Alberta. Bouchard won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commo ...

. She has been ranked number 2 in the world.

Early life

She initially earned a black belt in

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

by age 10. She started wrestling at age 10 and was coached initially by her uncle Stan Tzogas who had coached at the Olympic level.

Career

She won the

at the

. Following the games, she made the decision to move up a weight class to 63-kg after she experienced difficulty reaching the 58-kg weight limit. At the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

she won the gold medal in 63 kg category, defeating

Katerina Vidiaux Katerina Vidiaux López (born 9 June 1987) is a Cuban freestyle wrestler. She competed in the freestyle 63 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Elif Jale Yeşilırmak Elif Jale Yeşilırmak, née Yulia Guramievna Rekvava (), (b ...

of Cuba 7–3. In September 2015 Stone-Papadopoulos qualified a quota for Canada for the 2016 Olympic Games in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

after placing fifth in the 63 kg category at the senior world championships. Ultimately, she was not selected to compete for the country at the 2016 Games. In 2017, she won a silver medal at the

2017 World U23 Wrestling Championship The 2017 U23 World Wrestling Championships were the inaugural edition of the U23 World Wrestling Championships of combined events, and was held from November 21 to 26 in Bydgoszcz, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a co ...

in the 63 kg category. She defeated Petra Olli, Germany's Luzie Manzke and Moa Nygren of Sweden en route to the gold medal match, where she lost due to a last-moment throw by the winner, Ayana Gempei of Japan.

References

1995 births Canadian female sport wrestlers Canadian female taekwondo practitioners Living people Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2015 Pan American Games Black Canadian sportspeople Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in wrestling Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games gold medalists in wrestling Sportspeople from Scarborough, Ontario Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Wrestling Championships medalists Black Canadian sportswomen 21st-century Canadian sportswomen Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games {{Canada-wrestling-bio-stub