For so long as she will be able to keep in mind, Ana Godinez wished to be similar to her sister, Crazy.
Two of 4 daughters in a household of Mexican immigrants in Western Canada, Ana and Crazy have been inseparable regardless of the hole in age – Ana the youngest and Crazy the oldest.
“I used to only copy the whole lot she did,” Ana just lately instructed MMA Junkie. “I mentioned I didn’t like mayonnaise as a result of she didn’t like mayonnaise. All the things I did, I wished to be like her. I regarded as much as her. She’s been an enormous inspiration in my life – my complete life.”
Disdain for mayonnaise wasn’t the one affect Crazy had on her sister. In the future when Ana was in highschool, a household outing to assist Crazy at a jiu-jitsu match modified her life without end.
“They have been doing wrestling on the similar match and he or she’s like, ‘You must attempt it. It’ll assist your rugby and your tackles and no matter,’ Ana mentioned. “So then, they’d it at our faculty, so (our sister) Karla and I have been like, ‘We should always attempt it collectively.’ We tried it, and we each fell in love with it and began taking it significantly after a pair months.”
Picture through Iridium Sports activities Company
Ana was 16 on the time, and rugby was the fervour she was most devoted to. She was caught to it like glue, however finally the reward from her wrestling coaches acquired by way of. Coaches Frank Mensah, Jason Jahani, and Omid Farahani weren’t prepared to let her expertise go elsewhere.
“(Jahani) as like, ‘If you may get my leg, you may win the Olympics at some point.’ So I labored with him day by day, and at some point I acquired his leg,” Godinez mentioned. “He’s like, ‘You really acquired my leg.’ I’m like, ‘You’re mendacity.’ He’s like, ‘I believe you may go to the Olympics. If you may get my leg, you may win the Olympics.’ I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ That’s once I knew I used to be getting higher. It simply clicked.”
Olympic desires
Earlier this yr, the prophecy got here one step nearer when Godinez certified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Godinez is ranked No. 7 in girls’s 62kg freestyle wrestling. Her first match will likely be Aug. 9.
Regardless of competing on the world’s greatest athletic stage, Godinez stays grounded.
“Lots of people really feel misplaced after the Olympics as a result of they’ve labored so arduous and for therefore lengthy to get to this one second,” Godinez mentioned. “They’re attempting to make it outline them, this one second and this one efficiency. It’s actually, actually arduous to be the perfect on this at some point. You could be the perfect on one other day, but it surely may not be the Olympic day. That’s why it’s so extraordinary to win the Olympics.
“It could imply a lot to me to be the perfect on that day. I’ve been coaching to beat everybody in my weight on my worst day. That’s what I’m working towards. As a result of I do know I can beat everybody in my weight on my greatest day. That is why I’m centered once I’m drained or on my interval or sick or not feeling the best, however but I nonetheless need to go on the market and wrestle. I need to have the ability to beat the perfect ladies on the earth on my worst day.”
COVENTRY, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: Sakshi Malik (blue) of Staff India competes in opposition to Ana Godinez Gonzalez (crimson) of Staff Canada in the course of the Ladies’s Freestyle 62 kg Gold Medal match on day eight of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Video games at on August 05, 2022 on the Coventry, England. (Picture by Tom Dulat/Getty Photographs)
A future within the UFC?
As Godinez excels in wrestling, she has no incentive to pivot elsewhere proper now. Nevertheless, that’s to not say MMA isn’t on the the highway map. Godinez has helped her sister put together for bouts previously and has caught the MMA bug. It’s solely a matter of time.
“I’ve undoubtedly thought of it, and I’ve tried somewhat little bit of it,” Godinez mentioned. “I’ve gotten somewhat style of it due to Crazy. I undoubtedly prefer it, and I like studying. I believe I have already got the mindset for it, so I’ll undoubtedly attempt it. I believe it will be silly for me to not attempt as a result of it’s so simply accessible to me with my sister. That’s undoubtedly one thing I’m wanting into doing after I’m executed wrestling. I don’t know when that’ll be, however I’ll undoubtedly attempt it not less than.”
Whether or not it’s by way of the Olympics or a crossover blended martial arts, Godinez has one other underlying aim: to raise girls’s wrestling in Canada. There’s no gold medal or belt related to that accomplishment, but it surely may be much more fulfilling.
“I really feel just like the extra we win, the extra it’ll get promoted,” Godinez mentioned. “I’m attempting to do it. However I see there are a variety of ladies arising in Canada, doing higher internationally. I really feel like we’re going to observe the steps of the U.S. and expose wrestling to extra faculties and extra ladies. I actually hope it does, as a result of it’s such an excellent sport.”
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