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 also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

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) was 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 and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. 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 (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

respectively.

Sports career

She was born in

Grimsby, Ontario Grimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is at the eastern end of the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. It is named after the English fishing town of Grimsby in north-east Lincolnshire. The majority of re ...

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

Beamsville, Ontario Beamsville (Canada 2021 Census, 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 Niagar ...

. She trains at

Brock University Brock University is a 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 university bear ...

in St. Catharines, 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, etc ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

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 is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Summer Games. Per ...

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