By Tony Care,
CBC Sports Online
June 14, 2004

Finally in the Olympic spotlight

Christine Nordhagen, one of the pioneers of women's wrestling, put off retirement to compete for gold and bask in the newfound respect Olympic status has conferred on her sport.

Christine Nordhagen knows she'll be part of something special when she steps onto an Olympic mat for the first time in Athens.

She's aware of the impact her competing could have on future generations of Canadian women intrigued by sports that have been traditionally off-limits to women.

Since the first world championship in women's wrestling in 1987, national participation in the sport has shot up dramatically. But until a sport acquires the stature of Olympic sanction, it hasn't reached its pinnacle from the perspective of exposure and funding.

That began to change in 2001, when the International Olympic Committee announced that women's wrestling would be part of the roster of events at the Athens Games.

Nordhagen, who lives in Calgary, started wrestling in 1991. Until this year, the big payoff for all her hard work has always been competing in the world championships.

The Olympics, though, mean an exponentially larger audience, and Nordhagen appreciates the boost that will give her sport's visibility.

"I think it's going to give our sport the respect that it deserves," says Nordhagen during an interview with CBC Sports Online. "The guys have had this forever, and it's about time that we get the same opportunity and respect.

"I think now that wrestling is in the Olympics, more countries that are in the developmental stages of wrestling are going to put more money into their national team and develop the sport even further."

A booming sport

Despite the long road women's wrestling took to finally reach the Olympics, Nordhagen always felt confident it would come to pass during her career. The sport met the IOC's criteria in all areas, and it also fell in line with the organization's attempt to evenly distribute Olympic sports between men and women.

All the IOC had to do was look at the increasing number of countries sending women to the world championship over the last 17 years. In 1987, only nine nations took part in the women's world championships. The number ballooned to 41 in 2003. In addition, 54 nations attended the qualification events for the 2004 Olympics, with 21 nations qualifying to send female wrestlers to the Athens Games.

The chance to compete for a medal in the Olympics is the main reason Nordhagen remains an active wrestler. A six-time world champion, Nordhagen battled injuries two years ago that would likely have otherwise ended her career.

And at 33, she's accomplished more than any other woman in the sport and is considered a legend by many wrestlers who have competed against her.

"I think if it (women's wrestling) wasn't (an Olympic sport), I probably would have hung up my boots a couple of years ago," she says. "I had some injuries I was dealing with, and it was quite difficult to train. There's times when you think, 'Is it worth it, my body is breaking down,' but finding out that wrestling was going to be in the Olympics was something that motivated and pushed me."

New knees, please

After winning the 2001 world championships, the constant pounding Nordhagen endured over the years finally caught up with her. Training was increasingly painful, so she decided to have both knees scoped.

Her doctor discovered that all her cartilage was gone, and the pain became too intense to continue. They attempted to create scar tissue as a substitute for the cartilage, but the procedure was unsuccessful.

"It's like arthritis," Nordhagen explains. "It was just starting to aggravate me, and it hurt a lot to get into a stance. It just took forever to warm up, and I just thought I had to deal with this so I could have time to recover and get into the best shape possible for the Olympics."

When her knees failed to respond to physiotherapy after five months, Nordhagen's doctor decided to give her an injection of Synvisc, a synthetic lubricant used to treat joint problems, every three-and-a-half months.

Synvisc, which is used for patients with osteoarthritis, is injected in the back of the knee. It produces an artificial cushion that prevents bone-on-bone contact, a problem that was causing Nordhagen a great deal of pain. The product has been on the market for roughly 10 years and has allowed the Canadian veteran to continue her career.

"Once I had these injections it was just like night and day," she says. "It was like, 'Wow, I can dance without pain.' "

Tag-team partners

Nordhagen's husband, Leigh Vierling, keeps her focus through the highs of the world championships and the lows of the nagging injuries and monotonous training. The former Greco-Roman wrestling national champion has been Nordhagen's personal coach since 1994 and became the women's national coach in 1996.

Nordhagen, who says she's completely healthy now, credits Vierling's coaching ability for molding her into a multiple world champion and doesn't quarrel when he gets on her to improve her performance.

Vierling, who was known as a fierce competitor in his wrestling days, acknowledges that balancing his wife's wrestling career and a home life can be demanding at times.

"I think both of us have a lot invested in this, so there's times when one person is really thinking about it, and the other one just wants a break," he says. "So we really have to be careful that we don't overdo it in some ways, but we've gone down this road a lot before so it's not unfamiliar territory for us. I think we have a great working relationship."

A great rivalry gets a new stage

It's difficult to predict how Nordhagen will fare in Athens, but her strength and quickness in recent matches have reminded her fans and rivals alike of her past dominance.

Nordhagen's chief rival in the 72-kilogram class is five-time and current world champion Kyoko Hamaguchi. The two have had some memorable battles, each winning three matches over the other in course of their rivalry.

Their styles couldn't be more different and always lead to close confrontations. Nordhagen is a very aggressive and offensive wrestler, while Hamaguchi grapples defensively and waits for an opening.

Hamaguchi is bigger, but Nordhagen is quicker. At a World Cup event in Tokyo in October, Nordhagen defeated Hamaguchi in her own backyard with an unrelenting crowd cheering its hometown queen on. Nordhagen was behind in the match but put the defending world champion on her back in the final minute for the win.

In January the two squared off in Athens and, true to form, Hamaguchi returned the favour in another close battle. With the match coming down to the final minute once again, Hamaguchi took Nordhagen down with an arm bar to seal the victory.

"It is fun because I know it's going to be a good match every time. It's always been close and we go back and forth," says Nordhagen.

"I'm really looking forward to wrestling her."

reprinted with permission