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Canadian Linda Morais rallies to win gold at world wrestling championships

Sep 19, 2019 | 9:42 AM

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan — Canada’s Linda Morais rallied to win gold Thursday in the women’s 59-kilogram division at the world wrestling championships.

The 26-year-old from Tecumseh, Ont., trailed Liubov Ovcharova 6-1 but fought back to pin the Russian.

Morais, a two-time world university champion, won bronze at 60 kilograms at the 2016 world championships.

She becomes Canada’s 12th women’s wrestling world champion.

The 59-kg division is not an Olympic class. Morais has competed at 62 kg, an Olympic division, in the past. She could move up in weight for the Olympic trials in December.

A top six finish in an Olympic weight class at the world championships qualifies a quota spot for Canada in that division in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. An athlete who finishes in the top six gets a bye to the finals at the Canadian wrestling trials in December.

 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2019.

The Canadian Press