"This feels amazing."
Justina Di Stasio took a big sigh of relief last week as the 32-year-old has finally achieved "Olympian" status.
The Burnaby wrestler will get to represent Canada at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics after earning the quota last Thursday, Feb. 29, during the Pan American Olympic Games qualifier.
"I have been working at this for so long and wanted to be in this position for so long," Di Stasio said in a Wrestling Canada Lutte release.
"I said to myself I would do any thing to win today and throughout training I said I would do anything to get to the Olympics. So it feels really good to be going in the right direction."
In Acapulco, Mexico, Di Stasio won two matches to solidify her Olympic qualification. And, she had the advantage as was the number-one seed in her 76 kg women's wrestling weight class.
She defeated Linda Machuca of Argentina in the semifinal, tallying four unanswered points in the second period to win by a score of 8-4 to formally advance to Paris 2024. The contest lasted six minutes.
Di Stasio won her first match by fall over Saidy Chavez Figueroa of Honduras. It only took her 58 seconds to claim the 2-0 victory.
Di Stasio's career medal haul includes gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2020 and 2017 Senior Pan-Am Championships, 2019 Pan-Am Games and 2018 Senior World Championships.
She got the chance to qualify for this year's Summer Olympics after winning Wrestling Canada's Lutte's nomination during the national team trials in Edmonton last December.
Di Stasio, a Norway House Cree Nation member, will also be joined by a fellow Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club teammate in Paris.
Ana Godinez Gonazalez her two matches in the 62 kg division to qualify for the Canadian Olympic team, including a 3-3 victory on push out over Brazil's Lais Nunes in the semis.
The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics start July 26 with wrestling scheduled to take place Aug. 5 to 11.
