Carol Huynh (; born 16 November 1980) is a retired Canadian freestyle

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

. Huynh was the first gold medalist for Canada in women's wrestling and was the first gold medallist for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is also the 2010

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 ...

and two time Pan American Games champion. She has also achieved success at the world championships where Huynh has totaled one silver and three bronze medals. Huynh is also an eleven time national champion. Following the 2012 Olympics, Huynh retired from competition and started coaching the University of Calgary Dinos wrestling team. Huynh was elected to the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. In early 2015 she was selected as a United World Wrestling Super 8 Ambassador for the global campaign focusing on the development of women in wrestling and has also served as the Chair of the United World Wrestling Athletes Commission from 2013 to 2017. As of 2020 she is the current coach of Wrestling Canada's Next Gen team based in Calgary.

Career

Huynh broke onto the international scene as a wrestler beginning at the World Championships in 2000 where she won bronze. She continued to build on this success at the next World Championships in 2001 where she won silver. She would have to wait four more years till she would medal again at the Worlds when she won a bronze again in 2005. Success never dropped off though, Huynh would win the title in her 48 kg weight class at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

. She competed in the 48 kg weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal. This broke Canada's gold medal drought at the 2008 Games. She is the second ever female medallist for Canada in

Olympic wrestling Since the Olympic Games began in Athens in 1896, wrestling (in the form of Greco-Roman wrestling) became a focus of the Games, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics when wrestling did not appear on the program. Freestyle wrestling and wei ...

, after

Tonya Verbeek 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 and a second si ...

, the 2004 Athens freestyle silver medallist. Huynh was the first gold medallist in women's wrestling for Canada. Following the Olympic games she continued to perform at a top level, winning bronze at the 2010 World Championships. That same year she won the

title. Huynh then won the 2011 Canadian title again for 48 kg and then successfully defended her Pan Am Games title in Guadalajara. She was named to the 2012 Summer Olympics team in London for Canada. There she won a second Olympic medal, this time a bronze in the 48 kg class.MSN News Canada
"Canada's Carol Huynh wins wrestling bronze"
CBC Sports, 12 August 2012

Coaching and leadership

In 2013, after retiring from competitive wrestling and being inducted to the FILA (renamed in 2014 as United World Wrestling) Hall of Fame, she was appointed as a chairwoman to the international wrestling federation. On 8 December 2015, Huynh was named Canada's assistant chef de mission for Rio Olympics. She was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. Since 2015 and as of December 2020, Huynh has served as Wrestling Canada's Next Gen coach based out of Calgary.

Personal

Huynh was born in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to parents who were

ethnic Chinese The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

refugees from northern Vietnam. Her father was born in China, but moved to Vietnam when he was three; her mother was born in Vietnam. They settled in the town of

New Hazelton, British Columbia New Hazelton is a district municipality on Highway 16 in northwest British Columbia, Canada. It is situated northeast of Terrace and northwest of Smithers and in 2016 had a population of 580 people, a decrease of 12.9% comparing to 2011. New ...

, after being sponsored by the local

United Church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state ...

.Gary Kingston "Carol Huynh: The Hope of Hazelton." ''National Post.'' Saturday, 16 August 2008. Coming from a wrestling family, where both of her sisters wrestled, she started wrestling at 15.Cariboo Press
Carol Huynh is going for the gold in wrestling
, 11 March 2008 (accessed 17 August 2008) She started studies at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

in 1998, then moved to the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

in 2007.Television SRC, ''Pekin 2008'', 15 August 2008 broadcast Huynh married Dan Biggs, a social worker and former wrestler, in 2005. She was coached by Paul Ragusa, former National team member and Olympian, as well as Leigh Vierling, ex-husband of former World Champion

Christine Nordhagen Christine Nordhagen (born June 26, 1971 in Valhalla, Alberta) is a former Canadian wrestler. Wrestling Nordhagen, who began wrestling at age 20, is a graduate of the University of Alberta. She has won six world championship gold medals: 1994, 199 ...

.CBC Television ''Olympic Morning'' 16 August 2008 @ 6:15am EST

Competitive record

References

External links