Ana Godinez Gonzalez exclusive: From cartel threats in Mexico to continental wrestling champion
The Mexican-born freestyle wrestler now representing Canada along with her sister told Olympics.com how sport helped her find happiness again, but why it can never be her ‘ride or die’.
Wrestling
Canadian freestyle wrestler Ana Godinez Gonzalez was just seven when her world was turned upside down.
A kidnap threat had been made against her family in Mexico, so Godinez’ father decided that they should leave and start a new life in Canada.
In order not to cause any alarm, he told them to pack up their belongings as if they were going on holiday to Disneyland. After days of driving they arrived in Vancouver, Canada, and he broke the news that they would not be returning.
Instead of a magic land full of castles and princesses, Godinez and her three sisters were in a foreign country with a cold climate where everyone was speaking a language they didn’t understand.
“We couldn't communicate with any other kids as we didn’t speak any English, so we had no friends. But thankfully we had each other,” Gonzalez, 23, told Olympics.com.
The Godinez sisters decided to do what they did best in order to fix their situation: work hard, survive, and then thrive.
“Our parents took us to the park for hours and hours to go skating and swimming, so that we could meet people and make new friends,” Ana Godinez said.
“That's pretty much how we learned how to speak English.
“But it was just very sad for my sisters and I for a long time, and we were always crying.
“Before, we were so bad in school. But once we came to Canada we actually wanted to go to school so that we could play, have friends, and learn how to communicate.”
Building resilience through setbacks
Although it didn’t seem like it at the time, overcoming these cultural barriers helped the Godinez siblings to become resilient, and develop a good work ethic.
These were skills that would later stand them in good stead as professional athletes.
“I think it taught all of us how to work for what we wanted in life because it wasn't going to be given to us,” Godinez said. "We watched both our parents struggle through the move. My dad used all of his money to move us here and give us a better life.
“We watched him go in and out of jobs because he didn't know any English, while my mum took care of us.
“Once we got into school we knew we needed to work hard in order to get a scholarship for more school or something.”
How Ana Godinez found wrestling by accident
After trying out several sports, the sisters started to settle and find happiness again.
Ana played rugby, enjoying the contact aspect and the feeling of freedom that came with running around with her friends. Then, aged 16, she decided to start wrestling in order to improve her skills as a rugby player, not knowing that the switch would become permanent.
“Rugby gave me a good grounding to go into wrestling because arguably they are quite similar sports,” she said.
“I thought wrestling would be the perfect sport to help with my tackling technique, but then I totally fell in love with wrestling and that was that.”
Ana Godinez Gonzalez (L) in action against Serbia's Anna Fabian in the women's 62kg category at the 2023 Wrestling World Championships.
WW 62kg - Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) df. Anna FABIAN (SRB) at the 2023 Wrestling World Championships. She told Olympics.com how wrestling helped her settle in Canada.
Ana Godinez Gonzalez: 'Representing Canada felt like a huge privilege'
Progress was fast for the freestyle grappler, but it was only in 2019 that she was awarded Canadian citizenship and was able to represent her adopted country.
The decision to wear the Maple Leaf in international competition wasn’t a difficult one.
“We learned about the sport in Canada and trained in Canada so it felt right,” the 62kg competitor said.
Since then, Godinez has built an impressive resume, which includes winning gold and bronze at the U23 World Championships, silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and two Pan American Championships titles.
**“**Representing Canada for the first time felt unreal,” she said. “I showed up and was in game day mode the whole week, even when it wasn't game day because all I wanted was to win.
“I still couldn't believe I was there for Canada. In Mexico we would talk about Canada like it was another planet, on a super high level. So the fact that I was representing Canada felt like such a huge privilege, and still does.
"Through wrestling I was travelling the world, and I didn’t realise there was so much of it to see.”
Today, Godinez travels the world alongside sister Karla who is also a national team member at 55kg, while eldest sister Lupita is a mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Maintaining perspective and happiness
In the uncompromising and intense world of elite wrestling where winning is often everything, fun can often become an afterthought.
Godinez made sure that this would never be the case for her.
She trains and competes with a smile on her face, and makes sure that no matter how tough it gets on the mat, she is enjoying the process.
“When I first started, I was super obsessed with the sport like it was ride or die,” Godinez said. "I had the mentality that either I’m going to win an Olympic medal or I haven't accomplished anything in my life.
“But now that we've been through so much and have accomplished a lot already, I’ve realised that it's not my ride or die.
“The world is going to keep going no matter if I win or not, and although winning is my goal and what I want, it's not as fun if you're not having fun.”