WIEBE Erica Elizabeth

General
FURTHER EDUCATION
She began studying for a master's degree in business administration in 2020 on a joint programme delivered by Queen's University in Kingston, ON, Canada, and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, United States of America. "I've been kind of an expert in the sport of wrestling for a long time, so to go back to square one where you just feel completely incompetent and incapable, it's a refreshing mindset to be in. It has been a challenging, eye-opening experience. Kind of what I needed exactly to reframe and give myself something beyond wrestling. When you have that balance outside of your sport life, that allows you to compete with the fearlessness that's required on the world's biggest stage." (complex.com, 24 Aug 2020)

CHARITY WORK
She has worked as an athlete ambassador for the Canadian sports charities Fast and Female, Right to Play, and KidSport Canada, and served as a board member for Alberta Sport Connection. "I have spoken to over 15,000 kids since [the 2016 Olympic Game sin in Rio de Janeiro]. Kids are always like, 'I have a medal, too' or 'I have a gold medal' or 'I have 15 gold medals.' But then you put the Olympic medal in their hands and without fail, every single time, the reaction is 'Whoa!' And their hands drop to the ground, because it's so heavy. It's literally the weight of the journey that I think is really underlined for them in that moment. I really just try to be myself, and think of how I can make myself and my family proud in 50 years. It's a big responsibility that I take very seriously." (LinkedIn profile, 14 Feb 2021; ottawasportspages.ca, 19 Dec 2020; calgarysun.ca, 14 Dec 2020)