Tonya Lynn Verbeek (born 14 August 1977) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler. Verbeek was the first woman to win a wrestling medal for Canada when she took silver in 2004, she added to that with a bronze at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and a second silver at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She has also won two bronze and a silver at the world championships and has a bronze and silver from the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

respectively.

Sports career

She was born in

Grimsby, Ontario Grimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is at the eastern end of the Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, Census Met ...

. She took up wrestling in grade eleven and was undefeated throughout high school in

Beamsville, Ontario Beamsville ( 2021 Urban area estimated population 13,323) is a community that is part of the town of Lincoln, Ontario, Canada. It is located along the southern shore of Lake Ontario and lies within the fruit belt of the Niagara Peninsula. It co ...

. She trains at

Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Ontario, and is coached by Marty Calder. She won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in freestyle women's wrestling in the 55 kg category. At the

, she won Canada's third medal overall, the third Canadian medal ever in women's wrestling,CBC Television, ''Olympic Late Night'', 16 August 2008 by winning a bronze. Verbeek won a silver medal at the 2011 world championships. She was undefeated in 2012 when she was named to the Canadian team for the

. On 9 August 2012,Verbeek defeated

Geeta Phogat Geeta Phogat (born 15 December 1988) is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first-ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She was also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Games. Personal ...

of India in her first round match. Verbeek went on to win the silver medal in the Women's 55 kg freestyle category, being defeated by

Saori Yoshida is a Japanese former freestyle wrestler. Starting in 1998, she won almost every major competition, including three Olympic Games, four Asian Games, and 13 world championships, and became the most decorated athlete in freestyle wrestling history ...

in the final.

Wrestling record

International results

* 2012 Olympic Games 2nd * 2008 Olympic Games 3 * 2007 Olympic Trial 1 * 2005 Senior World Championships 3 * 2004 Olympic Games 2 * 2004 Canada Cup 1 * 2004 Austrian Ladies Open 1 * 2004 Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament – 1 6 * 2004 Athens Pre-Olympic Test Event 3 * 2003 NYAC Tournament 1 * 2003 World Cup of Women's Wrestling 2 * 2003 Pan American Games 2 * 2003 Canada Cup 2 * 2003 Gotzis Lady Open 2 * 2003 Hans von Zons 1 * 2003 Pan American Championships 1 * 2003 Klippan 4 * 2002 World Cup of Women's Wrestling 4 * 2002 Poland Open 4 * 2002 World University Championships 3 * 2001 Gilbert Schuab (56 kg) 1 * 2000 Canada Cup (56 kg) 4 * 1995 Sunkist 4 * 1995 Senior World Championships 5

Canadian National Championships

* 2005 Senior National Championships 1 * 2003 Senior National Championships 2 * 2002 Senior National Championships 2 * 2001 Senior National Championship (56 kg) 3 * 2000 Senior National Championship (56 kg) 3 * 1999 Senior National Championships (56 kg) 4 * 1997 Junior National Championships (56 kg) 2 * 1996 Senior National Championships 2 * 1995 Senior National Championship 1 * 1995 Espoir National Championships 1 * 1994 Senior National Championship 2

References

External links