Carol Huynh

Carol Huynh
Personal information
Nationality Canadian
Born (1980-11-16) 16 November 1980
Hazelton, British Columbia
Residence Calgary, Alberta
Height 154 cm (5 ft 1 in)
Weight 52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
Sport Wrestling
Club Dinos Wrestling Club[1]
Updated on July 2012.

Carol Huynh (/ˈwɪn/;[2] born 16 November 1980) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler.[3] Huynh was the first gold medalist for Canada in women's wrestling and was the first gold medalist for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is also the current reigning Commonwealth Games and two time Pan American Games champion. Success was also achieved at the world championships where Huynh has totaled one silver and three bronze medals. Huynh is also an eleven time national champion.[1]

Career

Huynh broke onto the international scene as a wrestler beginning at the World Championships in 2000 where she won bronze.[1] 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.[1]

She competed in the 48 kg weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal.[4] This broke Canada's gold medal drought at the 2008 Games.[5] She is the second ever female medalist for Canada in Olympic wrestling, after Tonya Verbeek, the 2004 Athens freestyle silver medalist.[6] Huynh was the first gold medalist 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 Commonwealth Games title.[1] 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.[7] There she won a second Olympic medal, this time a bronze in the 48 kg class.[8]

In 2013, after retiring from competitive wrestling and being inducted to the FILA (renamed in 2014 as United World Wrestling) Hall of Fame,[9] she was appointed as a chairwoman to the international wrestling federation.[10] On December 8th, 2015, Huynh was named Canada's assistant chef de mission for Rio Olympics.[11] She was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.[12]

Personal

Huynh was born in British Columbia to parents who were ethnic Chinese refugees from northern Vietnam. Her father was born in China, but moved to Vietnam when he was three; her mother was born in Vietnam.[13][14] They settled in the town of New Hazelton, British Columbia, after being sponsored by the local United Church.[15] Coming from a wrestling family, where both of her sisters wrestled, she started wrestling at 15.[16] She started studies at Simon Fraser University in 1998,[3] then moved to the University of Calgary in 2007.[6] Huynh married Dan Biggs, a social worker and former wrestler, in 2005.[17] She is coached by Paul Ragusa, former National team member and Olympian, as well as Leigh Vierling, husband of former World Champion Christine Nordhagen.[18]

Competition Record

Competition Event Result Notes
2012 Summer Olympics 48 kg Freestyle (female) Bronze [8]
2011 Pan Am 48 kg Freestyle (female) Gold
2010 Commonwealth games 48 kg Freestyle (female) Gold
2008 Summer Olympics 48 kg Freestyle (female) Gold First Canadian to win a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[5]
2008 Canada Cup withdrew The Canadian women's Olympic wrestling team were slated to compete, but withdrew to rest up for the Olympics. The Canada Cup is a mandatory event in non-Olympic years.[19]
2008 Canadian Olympic trials 48 kg Freestyle (female) 1st Carol Huynh wins a spot on the Olympic team against Erica Sharp [20]
2007 FILA Senior World Championships 48 kg Freestyle (female) 5th Carol Huynh lost the bronze medal match 3-4, 4-1, 1-1 to Mayelis Caripa-Castillo [3][17][21]
2007 Pan Am 48 kg Freestyle (female) Gold [3][17][22]
2006 Canadian senior wrestling championships 48 kg women Champion [23]
2006 CIS Champion [22]
2006 FILA Senior World Championships 5th [3][17]
2006 World Cup 48 kg Freestyle (female) Silver [3]
2006 Canada Cup 2nd [23]
2006 Golden Grand Prix 1st [3]
2006 Kiev International 1st [23]
2005 Canadian senior wrestling championships 48 kg women Champion [24]
2005 FILA Senior World Championships 48 kg Freestyle (female) Bronze [3][17]
2005 Summer Universiade Gold (University World Championships) [3][17]
World Cup 2004 48 kg Freestyle (female) Bronze
2004 Canadian Olympic trials 2nd Carol Huynh was an alternate for the wrestling contingent at the 2004 Olympics. She had finished second to Lyndsay Belisle. At the time, she was ranked #1 at 48 kg in NAIA and CIS rankings.[17][25][26][27]
2003 Canadian senior wrestling championships Champion [27]
2003 World Cup 44 kg Bronze [3][17]
2002 Canadian senior wrestling championships Champion [27]
2002 NAIA 48 kg women Champion Carol Huynh was also the tournament MVP, and came out of it ranked #1 in CIS and NAIA rankings.[28]
2002 FILA Senior World Championships 44 kg Freestyle (female) 5th [3][17]
2001 FILA Senior World Championships 46 kg Freestyle (female) Silver [3][17]
2000 FILA Senior World Championships 46 kg Freestyle (female) Bronze [3][17]
2000 Junior Worlds 46 kg (female) 9th [3][17]
1999 Junior Worlds 46 kg (female) 7th [3][17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Canadian Olympic Committee (5 July 2012). "Carol Huynh". Canada.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. Christie, James (16 August 2008). "A three-medal outburst". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Carol Huynh". Canadian Olympic Committee.
  4. "Roll call: Canada's medal winners". Sympatico MSN. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  5. 1 2 Canada.com, "Huynh wins Canada's first gold", Reuters, 17 August 2008
  6. 1 2 Television SRC, Pekin 2008, 15 Aug 2008 broadcast
  7. TSN, "Top 12 Canadian reasons to watch London in 2012", CTVOlympics.ca, 2012-04-18 (accessed 2012-05-29)
  8. 1 2 MSN News Canada, "Canada's Carol Huynh wins wrestling bronze", CBC Sports, 12 August 2012
  9. Canadian Olympic Committee. 2018-08-13. URL:https://olympic.ca/team-canada/carol-huynh/. Accessed: 2018-08-13. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/71eIZ8KOQ)
  10. http://aroundtherings.com/articles/view.aspx?id=44795
  11. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/canadian-olympic-team-assistant-chef-de-mission-1.3355243
  12. "Canada's Sports Hall of Fame". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  13. "Woman wrestler guarantees Canada its first medal" Vancouver Sun. (accessed 16 August 2008)
  14. "Wrestler Huynh wins Canada's first gold" Ottawa Citizen.
  15. Gary Kingston "Carol Huynh: The Hope of Hazelton." National Post. Saturday, 16 August 2008.
  16. Cariboo Press, Carol Huynh is going for the gold in wrestling, 11 March 2008 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Carol Huynh". Canadian Olympic Committee.
  18. CBC Television Olympic Morning 16 Aug 2008 @ 6:15am EST
  19. CBC Olympics, Olympians not in action at Canada Cup Tuesday, 5 August 2008 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  20. Brock University Verbeek and Azarbayjani capture gold at Olympic Trials Shawn Whiteley 17 December 2007 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  21. Associated Press, Canada's Huynh loses out on world wrestling bronze, 21 September 2007 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  22. 1 2 TSN Sports Centre 16 Aug 2008 – 2:00am EST edition
  23. 1 2 3 Canadian Olympic Committee, 2007 Pan Am Profiles
  24. Macari and Verbeek Win 2005 Senior Nationals 15 May 2005 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  25. Simon Fraser University Athletics news, Eight Clan athletes to compete in Beijing (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  26. Simon Fraser University Magazine, Our Next World Champion? May 2003 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  27. 1 2 3 Canadian Sport News Online Sport Performance Weekly (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
  28. Vancouver Sun, Nothing can stop her now, Dan Stinson, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 (accessed 17 Aug 2008)
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Irini Merleni (UKR)
Olympic Champion
Wrestling
48kg Freestyle – Women

2008
Succeeded by
Hitomi Obara (JPN)
Preceded by
2008 Olympic medalist
48kg Freestyle Wrestling
Women

GOLD
Succeeded by
Chiharu Icho (JPN)
Silver
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