Olds native Danielle Lappage is seeking redemption at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The 30-year-old is set to make her second Olympic appearance Monday in the wrestling’s 68kg weight class.
She will be looking to rewrite the history books in 2021 after a devastating injury forced her to withdraw in Rio at the 2016 Olympics.
Her medal hopes were dashed last time around when she ruptured a hamstring in her opening match, forcing her to withdraw.
Lappage returned to international competition in 2018, moving up to the 68kg weight class for most of the year and didn’t miss the podium in any international tournament she entered.
She earned silver at the UWW World Championships (where she competed at 65kg), and she also won 68kg silver at the Commonwealth Games and captured gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, International Ukrainian Tournament, Canada Cup, and Poland Open.
We didn’t walk in the Opening Ceremony but still celebrated & watched from afar.
— Danielle Lappage (@DanielleLappage) July 24, 2021
LET THE GAMES BEGIN 🤯🥰👏🏻@TeamCanada @WrestlingCanada pic.twitter.com/1snzrowh3C
In 2019, Lappage stood on six international podiums and in March 2020 she qualified for her second Olympic Games by winning the 68kg weight class at the Pan American qualification event.
Following the postponement of Tokyo 2020, Lappage underwent her second ACL reconstruction in August 2020 and endured more rehabilitation.
The 30-year-old wrestler, who now lives in Calgary, also earned her law degree from the University of Calgary just a few months before the games.
“I have had to overcome so much to get my second chance at the Olympic Games,” said Lappage in a wrestling Canada release after qualifying.
“I am so grateful that everything has worked out and that I have been named to the Olympic team and will get the opportunity to represent Canada in Tokyo. The Games will undoubtedly be unusual and unlike any other Games in history, however, I expect the tournament to be just like any other wrestling tournament and I am so excited to compete.”
Lappage’s wrestling event gets underway on Aug. 2 at 3:45 a.m. MT and can be streamed on CBC.