Spandex drew Erica Wiebe into wrestling, but it’s been impossible to constrict the Ottawa Sport Hall of Famer’s impact in sport

By Adam Beauchemin

Stittsville wrestler Erica Wiebe became Ottawa’s first Summer Olympic champion in 20 years back in 2016, and now 20 years after sprinter Glenroy Gilbert was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame, the Rio Games gold medallist has joined the local sports shrine at the same interval.

Alongside a family and a team, Wiebe was one of six new individuals welcomed to the Ottawa Sport Hall on Wednesday evening at Lansdowne Park’s Horticulture Building.

Watch Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame inductee tribute video:

“Ottawa really built me,” Wiebe said in an interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages. “The principles, the values and the character that I have was built here in Ottawa, and so it’s incredible to be back.”

The biggest prize in the recently-retired 35-year-old’s collection is of course the 2016 Olympic gold medal – when she won every one of her matches in the women’s 76-kilogram division by at least three points – but there were many more during her decade-long career of representing Canada internationally.

Read More: 2025 Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame Inductee Profile: Erica Wiebe (Athlete – Wrestling)

Wiebe received two standing ovations from the sold-out crowd as she was officially welcomed into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame. She entered the Hall at roughly half the age of the other inductees, with the exception of the 2012 W-League champions from the Ottawa Fury Soccer Club, where Wiebe started her high-level sports career before spurning Fury coach Dom Oliveri in favour of wrestling.

During her speech, Wiebe thanked her parents, the Ottawa sports community and the Hall for their support.

“All of my best and worst attributes I see in my parents every single day,” joked Wiebe as her parents shook their heads and laughed from their seats.

“It’s such a blessing and a curse, but I wouldn’t be who I am without them,” added the National Capital Wrestling Club product. “To all the moms and dads who drive their kids to sports every single day to fulfill their dreams, thank you.”

Wiebe also reflected on her roots in wrestling at Sacred Heart Catholic High School.

“I joined wrestling in Grade 9,” recounted Wiebe, who signed up alongside her friend Katherine Dobson, another guest at the Wiebe table on Wednesday. “To be honest, I really wanted to play soccer, but wrestling seemed like a great opportunity to wear spandex and wrestle with boys.”

The audience chuckled at the story, and then laughed harder when Wiebe noted that the friends’ plan seems to have backfired since they are both still single.

Wiebe’s speech included a powerful nod to Ottawa’s embrace of the growing women’s sports movement. Later in the evening, fellow inductee Jo-Anne Polak commented: “My god, where were you when I was starting out, Erica?”

Polak became the first female general manager of a male pro sports team in North America when the Ottawa Rough Riders hired her from the club’s marketing department when she was still in her early 20s.

“As a young woman growing up in sport, I never had to question the space that I took up,” Wiebe highlighted. “I think that just speaks to the village that I have, but also the community that we live in, that provides opportunities for young women to live out their dreams.

“I think now we talk about women’s sports being the moment. We see that here in the city with the Charge and the Rapid, and it’s only just beginning.”

Staying busy after retirement

While Wiebe no longer hits the mats as an athlete, her life has hardly slowed in the slightest, having joined the Canadian Olympic Committee shortly after she hung up her singlet.

“I stayed very busy,” the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games chef de mission said in her interview with the Sports Pages. “I was on the ground in Paris, I’ll be going to Milan and Cortina, so the Olympics is still very much a big part of my life.”

Wiebe works for the COC as Manager of Athlete Relations, Safe Sport and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – pillars that are inseparable in Wiebe’s mind.

“You can’t have an athlete-centered sports system without thinking about equity and an environment of sports that’s free from maltreatment, that’s safe, and equitable for all individuals regardless of where they come from,” indicated the University of Calgary and Queen’s grad.

“It’s really important that we interweaved DEI and safe sport into every single thing that we do so that it’s not just a checked box, it’s actually foundational to the work. That’s why it’s really cool to do what I do every day.”

On top of her work at the COC’s Montreal office, Wiebe bikes, skis and still heads to the gym regularly to coach and wrestle with the Montreal Wrestling Club.

“I’m very fortunate that I’m still able to wrestle and coach and train and have fun in this sport,” she underlined. “It’s really important to me.”

Wiebe became the second wrestler inducted into the 59-year-old Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame alongside three-time Olympian Ray Takahashi.

Also inducted in 2025 were:

Leitrim’s Barrett family, a multi-generational farming clan that’s provided hockey leadership for over 65 years and a legacy of many sports facilities Ottawa residents continue to utilize in the former city of Gloucester.

Ervin Budge, a Maniwaki-born snooker player who became one of the world’s top amateur players and helped grow the sport around Ottawa and Canada.

Don Campbell, an Ottawa Citizen sportswriter for more than four decades and a long-time Ottawa-Nepean Canadians baseball coach. Campbell and Polak became the first couple inducted into the Hall simultaneously.

The 2012 Ottawa Fury women’s soccer team, which won the USL W-League championship. The final four tournament hosts’ triumph at home came after nine straight years of winning division titles but falling short of the big prize.

Jacques Martin, a past Jack Adams Trophy winner as the NHL’s top coach whose career spanned five decades and who coached the Ottawa Senators for nearly 750 games.

Jo-Anne Polak, celebrated for her trailblazing role in shifting mindsets around women’s involvement in football, now a Football Canada director.

Pat Stoqua, wracked up all-star honours in both basketball and football for the Carleton Ravens and played six CFL seasons for the Ottawa Rough Riders, including one of the most memorable plays in Ottawa football history.

The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame has full profiles and tribute videos on each of the inductees here.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe opened the evening with a welcome address, retired CTV sports anchor Terry Marcotte emceed the event, and longtime sports reporter and current Ottawa Senators communications vice president Ian Mendes gave a heartfelt keynote speech on sport, family and life, recounting several difficult instances where personal events overtook major professional moments in his career.

Rogers TV plans to broadcast a replay of the ceremony on June 18 at 8:30 p.m.