Canadian wrestlers Di Stacio and Randawa win gold at Commonwealth Games

Birmingham, England — Justina Di Stasio and Nishan Randhawa both won gold to lead Canada in wrestling medals at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

Canada also won gold in the track where Camryn Rogers of Richmond, Columbia, British Columbia won the women's hammer throw.

All six of her wrestlers who competed in her Coventry arena on Saturday finished on the podium.

Di Stasio, 29, from Burnaby, British Columbia, defeated Nigeria's Hannah Amchech Ruben, 4-2, in the final with a four-point takedown to win the women's 76-kilogram division.

"She was very strong, but the first two times I pulled her down, I felt her pulling back," explained Di Stacio.

"But if I missed, she knew it would come. I knew, so I had to be patient.”

Di Stacio won the 72 kg world title in Budapest, Hungary in 2018 and won the won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto.

"We had a game plan," the Canadian said on Saturday. "Sometimes I give up on the game plan, but in that game I heard the coach saying something and I could hear it, so that was pretty good."

British Abbotsford, Columbia's Randawa secured a decisive 9-3 win over South Africa's Nicolas de Lange 6-1 in the second half of the final match.

"I think we picked up the pace a little bit as the match went on," says Landawa, 24. "It feels great. It's been a long road and I've had some injuries along the way.

"We finish strong. I hope we can keep this momentum going to the Senior World Championships in Serbia." I hope so.”

Madison Parkes of Brantford, Ontario and Samantha Stewart of Fredericton, Ontario won silver medals in the women's 50 kg and 53 kg categories respectively.

Dozen Her Capelan of Surrey, British Columbia and Jasmit Pulka of Abbotsford, British Columbia won bronze in the men's 57 kg division and her 74 kg division.

The 2002 Commonwealth Games will end on Monday in Birmingham, England.

At the track, Rodgers was the only woman in her toss winning 74.08 when she threw more than 70 meters. Canadian teammate Jillian Weir of Kingston, Ontario won the bronze medal.

Ethan Katsberg of Nanaimo, British Columbia, set a career-high 76.36 meters for her silver medal in the men's hammer throw.

The rhythmic gymnastics team wrapped up the competition on Saturday with his four medals. Carmel Kallemaa won silver in clubs and bronze in both hoops and ribbons.

Her 24-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario won her four medals at Birmingham, including a gold medal in her team's event.

"It was a dream of mine to compete in this competition," said Kalemar.

"At first, I never dreamed of a final. I wanted to go there. I wanted to get there and make at least one final.

"To reach three finals and one medal in each event is unbelievable. Definitely one of the best days of my life."

Her Montreal teammate Suzanna Shahbazian is also a gold medalist for her team, taking silver in the ball finals.

A day after winning the women's one-meter springboard, Kirkland diver Mia Vary, Co. Que, won bronze in her synchronous springboard with Saskatoon's Margo Herrham.

Vallee, a silver medalist in the 3-meter springboard at this year's World Championships in Budapest, will compete in the event on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 6, 2022.