York student Ohenewa Akuffo succeeded in her bid to win a women’s freestyle wrestling gold medal at the just-completed 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. Akuffo defeated Annabel Ali of Cameroon in a fourth-session tiebreaker to win the 72-kilogram class on Oct. 7.
Right: Akuffo with her gold medal
“I was not letting the gold go,” an exhausted Akuffo said. “I can't let my fans down."
In one of the most exciting matches of the competition, Akuffo dived at her opponent in the dying seconds of the match and pushed her out of the fighting area to win by a single point. "At the end of the day, you trust in your skills," Akuffo told CBC News.
Canada picked up three gold medals in the women’s wrestling events – a fact Akuffo is equally proud of. "This is the first Commonwealth Games for women's wrestling and we set the bar high," she said. In total, Canada won 26 golds, with only one by a male wrestler.
In September, Akuffo won a silver medal at the world championships in Moscow (See YFile Sept. 16). In July, the marketing student in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, won gold at July’s Great Britain Cup. (See YFile, Aug. 9.)
To see the medal ceremony and her interview with CBC Sports, visit the CBC Commonwealth Games website. Click on "video" and search for "Ohenewa Akuffo".