2012 Nationals Profile: Olympian Carol Huynh
Carol Huynh started wrestling in Grade 10 when a family member introduced her to the sport.
“I played lots of different sports, but my older sister was the one of the first girls on the high school wrestling team and she recommended that me and my younger sister join the team,” said the Hazelton, B.C. native. “My younger sister and I joined with a whole bunch of our friends and it was a lot of fun.”
In 1998, Hunyh started to garner attention by capturing a high school provincial championship, and in 2008, the whole country watched her stride to the top of the podium as the gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics.
“Winning a gold medal was an amazing feeling of elation, pride, relief, disbelief, joy, etcetra, all rolled into one,” she said.
This summer, she will look to capture gold again in London, England when she travels to the 2012 Olympic Games.
“I feel nervous and excited and honoured to be representing Canada again,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the journey to London with some of my favourite people.”
As all wrestlers know, success on the mats is the result of maintaining a strict training schedule, and Huynh is a dedicated wrestler in every way.
“I have been fortunate to be successful enough to warrant a living allowance from the government so I don’t need to be employed,” she said. “I have been able to balance my education with my training, but I have learned to listen to my body and train smarter."
It is all about training, but Huynh has learned to enjoy the work and balance her needs.
“I have great teammates that keep me grounded and supported and laughing,” she said. “I balance the extreme focus needed for training with spending time with family and friends and making sure I enjoy life outside wrestling.”
Some interesting facts about Huynh are that she likes to read fantasy books (for example, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Hunger Games), she is just completing her last semester of a Masters Degree in a counseling program and she is also addicted to shoes.
When Huynh is not wrestling, she loves to read and watch movies, but she is also focused on training, competing and working with her coaches on technical and strategical preparation for specific opponents she will meet in the Olympics
This opportunity to compete at the Brock Senior Nationals is something Huynh looks forward to for many reasons.
“We have some of the best wrestlers in the world at every single weight class,” she said. “It will be exciting to watch and fun to compete.”
