Taylor sews up Olympic berth

Brock Wrestling Club member Hannah Taylor is heading to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Competing at an Olympic qualifier in Acapulco, Mexico, the 25-year-old Summerside, P.E.I., native received a first-round bye, won her fist match 10-0 and then punched her ticket to Paris by defeating Alma Valencia Escoto of Mexico 8-4 in the semifinals. Because the two finalists qualified for Paris, there was no final.

“It is so crazy because I have been on this wrestling journey for a long time and I had always thought of going to the Olympics,” the eight-time national champion said. “I was always told by people that I was going to the Olympics but I don’t think a lot of people understand what it takes to actually get there.”

In wrestling, there are only 16 spots available at the Olympics per weight class and athletes from 195 countries are all trying to earn those spots.

“It is a hard task to do so in saying that, the past year has been a very hard year. I have had some great tournaments and I have had some terrible tournaments and it got me to a place where I was happy with what I had achieved so far in the sport and what I was doing even if I wasn’t going to make it to the Olympics.

“All you can do in wrestling is put in 100 per cent and whatever is the outcome is the outcome. It is not hard to accept you are not good enough if you are giving it your all.”

That being said, qualifying for the Olympics was an emotional moment for the silver medalist at the 2023 Pan-Am Games.

“I can’t even explain because it is an entire lifetime of work coming down to this and it was like winning the lottery. It is a feeling that I never had before and I was bawling my eyes, then I was laughing and then I ended up power puking because I had an adrenaline dump,” she said with a laugh. “That just goes to show that I was so unprepared for ever having this feeling.”

Prior to the qualifier, Taylor competed in the Pan American Championships in Acapulco to secure her ranking for the Olympic qualifier. She won her first match which ensured an opponent that she had never beaten before would be on the opposite side of the Olympic qualifier draw. She then lost her second match before pulling out of the bronze medal match.

“I felt good going into the Olympic qualifier because of all the work that we had done beforehand in competing at the Pan American Championships to improve my ranking and all the studying that my coaches and my training partner and fiancé, Ligrit Sadiku, did. They analyzed every single wrestler in my weight class just to make sure no matter who I had in front of me we were going to have a game plan. That was something which made me feel confident.”

It was the continuation of a herculean effort to get Taylor to Paris.

“There was definitely a lot of work that went into it. I had meetings with Wrestling Canada and the support staff here at Brock to figure out what events I needed to do in order to improve my ranking for this one event,” the former under-23 world bronze medalist said. “When you step on the mat, you can’t lose any matches at the Olympic qualifier because it is a single elimination tournament.”

After the qualifier, Taylor and Sadiku decompressed for five days at an all-inclusive resort in Acapulco.

“It was just too relax and soak it all in.”

It was a much-needed break.

“Once we got there, we were saying how miserable we would feel if it maybe didn’t go my way so we were riding the high the whole weekend. We were sitting there, laying in the sun and crying on and off because we couldn’t believe I had just made it to the Olympics.”

Despite being an all-inclusive, Taylor neither drank like a fish or gorged on all buffets.

“The food wasn’t that great and I definitely still had restraint. I do have a break right now so I can enjoy the other things in life but obviously having the Olympics hanging over my head, I don’t want to go too crazy because cutting weight is not a fun part of the sport.”

Leading up to the Olympics, Taylor’s schedule is up in the air because there are not many tournaments prior to the Olympics. There are three international events in June and she may do one or two of them.

“My coaching staff would like to host a training camp here  to get ready and I might also attend a wrestling camp somewhere else. Ideally we wouldn’t compete six weeks before the Olympics just to avoid injury and all the other things that come with wrestling.”

The most exciting thing for Taylor about the upcoming Olympics will be having her family in Paris.

“Although it has been my dream forever, it was also kind of a learnt dream. My dad has been in love with the Olympics for as long as I can remember and the first Olympics I watched was in 2004 and I was born in 1998,” she said. “I was exposed to the Olympics so young and it’s great to have this moment be for my entire family.”

Her entourage for Paris will include: her parents, Bonnie and Norman; her sister, Kaitlyn; and, her aunt and uncle, Stacey and Troy Hicks.

“Those five already have booked their accommodations and their flights and have planned a trip for after the Olympics as well. They are all coming and I have an entire other group of family members from Boston who are coming as well. Two of my best friends from Prince Edward Island are coming and a few other friends as well.”

Taylor estimates upwards of 15 will be cheering her on at the Olympics.

“It will be incredible. It is so nice to know this is also their dream and they get to experience it. If people look at the cost of going to the Olympics, it is insane how expensive it is. Having 15 people willing to dump that much money in because it’s such a lifetime experience, it is so special that I am the one that made that happen.”