In the flash of a firm hold and a double-leg lock, Justina DiStasio has put her share of rivals to the mat.
As a member of Team Canada, the Coquitlam-raised wrestler who went to Port Moody secondary has done it at home and abroad.
Her aim is to continue that journey and stand in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics wearing red and white.
This week it’s a different spotlight she’ll be sharing, when the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame unveils its Indigenous Sport Gallery that includes DiStasio’s photo alongside so many other athletes from Canada’s First Nations.
“It’s so cool. I’m Aboriginal but I never really like talked about it because I grew up in the city and no one ever asked me before,” said the 25-year-old DiStasio. “They wanted me to be a part [of the gallery], and I just felt so honoured. It’s very cool and my whole family is so excited.”
Being able to reflect on who she is, her heritage and be included in a group of great athletes is adding another chapter to her considerable story.
Growing up in Coquitlam, DiStasio didn’t give wrestling a try until Grade 8, and, even then, it was a difficult landing. Over time, the teen found a symmetry with the sport as well as success, winning provincial titles for Port Moody secondary.
Training with the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club and Simon Fraser University women’s program, DiStasio garnered more experience and wins en route to a host of titles.
Along the way, there were some tough losses, like in the 2016 Canadian Olympic team trial. Absorbing that defeat at the hands of world and future Olympic champion Erica Wiebe was a tough pill to swallow. But DiStasio saw it for the medicine it was — and motivation.
“I was devastated losing the trials. The day [Wiebe] won the Olympic medal I was on crutches, in my living room watching her because I rolled my ankle at practice that week. I was like ‘Wow, I can either sit here and be super bummed that now I have to beat an Olympic champ, or I could be proud that a Canadian won, and I was. … It inspires me to do great things.
“I also had to look at it more as a positive challenge; that to get out of the country I had to be so good that I have to beat an Olympic champ, and, if I can do that, I believe I belong at this level.”
DiStasio admits the confidence side is where she’s made the most strides. Now, preparing to compete in the 72-kilogram division, after years in the women’s (Olympic) 76kg, she takes it as an opportunity to face new rivals and add to her list of moves.
“You do wrestle a lot of the same people and that’s always a challenge. My first year on the national team in 2015, no one knew how I’d wrestle, so I could catch them with my best move. Now everyone knows my best move so you have to find different ways to get to it, and learn other moves and make them just as effective,” she said.
It is her determination and resilience that is part of a grand display at the Indigenous Sport Gallery in the Hall of Fame.
Her mom’s roots harken to Manitoba’s Norway House Cree Nation, a long journey at the northern end of Lake Winnipeg. Summer trips back there are distant memories now, as someone who is a committed member of the national team as well as an assistant coach with SFU’s women’s wrestling program.
Being part of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame’s newest display — which officially opened Wednesday and includes artifacts, memorabilia, stories and images celebrating the rich history of sport by First Nations and Metis athletes — is truly special.
“The gallery is huge, and taught me about the amount of Aboriginal athletes in B.C.,” said DiStasio. “I didn’t even know there were so many people around.”
Just as when she was invited to talk and demonstrate some pointers at Norgate Community School in North Van for the Xwemelch’stn community, DiStasio loves how wrestling has opened up new opportunities and responsibilities for her. Recognized as a strong role model, DiStasio aims to build on both that and her wrestling portfolio along the way to her goal of becoming a teacher.
“I have my goals and one is to be a better person off the mat than I can ever be as a wrestler,” she said. “This is just more exposure to more people who can hold me accountable to being someone who contributes a positive thing.”
The Indigenous Sport Gallery Exhibit, presented by Canfor, is at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, Gate A at B.C. Place, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
