Canadian wrestler Justina Di Stasio: “If you can see what I’m doing through an Indigenous lens, it becomes really positive”
The Canadian women’s freestyle wrestling 2018 world champion tells Olympics.com why she decided to start speaking about her Indigenous roots, and how she built resilience through the idea of ‘Failing forward’
Wrestling
Canadian freestyle wrestling star Justina Di Stasio never used to think that having a mixed heritage was anything out of the ordinary.
The British Columbia athlete - also known as her childhood nickname ‘Juice’ - grew up as a sports-loving kid with an Italian father, an Indigenous mother, and two siblings.
But as Di Stasio got older, she noticed that things were slightly different for her compared to other students at school.
“Once you get out in the rest of the world when you start getting pulled out of class to go to Indigenous learning class, and you realise you’re not like everyone else,” Di Stasio told Olympics.com exclusively at the 2023 Wrestling World Championships.
But even when her wrestling career took off, she still felt uncomfortable talking about her family background in public.
“I was so nervous to ever speak about it because my name is very Italian and my experience has been very different to my family who live in small towns in Manitoba,” she continued.
“I never wanted to give off the impression that I’ve had that indigenous experience.
That stance eventually shifted when Di Stasio realised that rather than hoping not to offend anyone, she could use her achievements to shine a light on the Indigenous community.
After winning the 2018 world title at 72 kg, she spoke about paying tribute to her Indigenous roots, thanking her Cree mother, from the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, for working to give her opportunities leading to that success.
“But as I got older, I felt more comfortable sharing that part of my background because if you can see what I’m doing through an Indigenous lens, it becomes really positive,” she continued.
“Comparing yourself to see if I’m Italian enough, or am I indigenous enough isn’t productive. So I was happy to speak about my heritage, and my focus on my wrestling and just putting my best foot forward and representing my background that way.”
But what of Di Stasio’s Italian heritage?
Does she lean into the fine culinary culture that the land of her father is so famous for?
“My Italian but I’m allergic to gluten, so that’s an interesting dynamic! But my family has learnt to cook different things so that I can still be a part of dinners on Sunday.”
Justin Di Stasio on the importance of “Failing forward”
As well as being a prodigious talent on the mat, Di Stasio is also known for her resilience.
Despite being a world and 2019 Pan American champion, she has never competed at an Olympic Games.
That is largely due the brilliance of her compatriot Erica Wiebe, who defeated Di Stasio at the Canadian Trials before the past two Games and won 75 kg gold at Rio 2016.
Having come so close on two occasions was a heartbreaking experience for Di Stasio.
But she refused to give up, and changed her perspective in order to bounce back stronger.
“The idea of ‘Failing forward’ is that I’ve failed at the big goal which is making the Olympic team. But it is a four-year process and everything else I achieved over that period isn’t a failure,” the part-time teacher and wrestling coach said.
“At the time it sucked but wrestling is a place where you can fail and there’s no outside effect. You don’t lose your home and nothing bad happens to your family.
“You hit rock bottom and have your week of self-pity, then you lean on the people around you - teammates, coaches, family, friends - so I dive into that side of life, then realise my heart isn’t so broken and return to wrestling and start again.
“Dealing with that setback in the sports space really helps you deal with setbacks in any other place in life.”
Di Stasio is a people person, and part of her healing process was to lean into her teaching qualifications.
“I get a lot of joy from helping others and I noticed it big time during Covid when there was no coaching and you’re in your bubble of two people. With teaching I'm happy to be communicating and interacting,” she said.
“I like that too on the wrestling coaching side, but teaching takes the do or die mentality out of it and you get to enjoy helping other people.
The English graduate likes to impart advice on her students from her own experiences, letting them know that they don’t have to be successful the whole time.
“I learn more from when I mess up and come back, versus simply being world class the whole time.
“Everyone thinks sport is all about being better every day. But the reality is that there are good patches and bad patches, which is much more relatable to life where you fall and rise continuously.”
Right now, the teaching is on hold as Di Stasio focuses all of her attention on making the plane for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
At the 2023 World Championships in Serbia, she showed amazing resilience once more to come through a gruelling second-round match that included two medical time outs, before bowing out in the quarter-finals in some discomfort.
Next up for Juice, it's the Canadian Olympic Trials in December. But regardless of the outcome, she will be applying her philosophy to life and a sense of perspective.
“Getting to the Olympics means everything to me. When you’ve had a dream for so long it seems like a really big deal,” she said.
“But there are two ways you could look at it. I have this opportunity to achieve something I’ve wanted for so long and be grateful to be healthy and still be doing this sport at 30.
“Or you can make it more stressful and look at it as my last chance to have a crack at it, which is kind of crushing and daunting. So I’m really trying to lean towards the first one!”