Ana Godinez Gonzalez: From Family Inspiration to Olympic Wrestling Hopeful
In the heart of Western Canada, two sisters have forged a path from sibling rivalry to athletic excellence. Ana and Loopy Godinez, daughters of Mexican immigrants, share a bond that goes beyond mere sisterhood. Ana, the youngest, idolized Loopy, following in her footsteps both in life and sport.
“I used to just copy everything she did,” Ana recently shared with MMA Junkie. “I said I didn’t like mayonnaise because she didn’t like mayonnaise. Everything I did, I wanted to be like her. I looked up to her. She’s been a huge inspiration in my life – my whole life.”
The sisters’ journey took a significant turn when a high school family outing to support Loopy at a jiu-jitsu tournament introduced Ana to wrestling. “They were doing wrestling at the same tournament and she’s like, ‘You should try it. It’ll help your rugby and your tackles and whatever,’” Ana recalled. “So then, they had it at our school, so (our sister) Karla and I were like, ‘We should try it together.’ We tried it, and we both fell in love with it and started taking it seriously after a couple months.”
At the time, Ana was 16 and deeply dedicated to rugby. However, the praise from her wrestling coaches began to shift her focus. Coaches Frank Mensah, Jason Jahani, and Omid Farahani saw her potential and pushed her to excel. Jahani’s words, “If you can get my leg, you can win the Olympics one day,” became a turning point. “I worked with him every day, and one day I got his leg,” Ana said. “He’s like, ‘You actually got my leg.’ I’m like, ‘You’re lying.’ He’s like, ‘I think you can go to the Olympics.’ That’s when I knew I was getting better. It just clicked.”
Earlier this year, Ana’s Olympic dream came one step closer when she qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Ranked No. 7 in women’s 62kg freestyle wrestling, she is set to compete on August 9. Despite the looming global stage, Ana remains grounded and realistic about the challenges ahead.
“A lot of people feel lost after the Olympics because they’ve worked so hard and for so long to get to this one moment,” Ana explained. “They’re trying to make it define them, this one moment and this one performance. It’s really, really hard to be the best on this one day. You can be the best on another day, but it might not be the Olympic day. That’s why it’s so extraordinary to win the Olympics.”
Ana’s approach to the Olympics is pragmatic yet inspiring. “It would mean so much to me to be the best on that day. I’ve been training to beat everyone in my weight on my worst day. That’s what I’m working toward. Because I know I can beat everyone in my weight on my best day. This is why I’m focused when I’m tired or on my period or sick or not feeling the greatest, but yet I still have to go out there and wrestle. I want to be able to beat the best girls in the world on my worst day.”
As Ana excels in wrestling, her focus remains sharp, but she hasn’t ruled out a future in mixed martial arts. Having helped her sister Loopy prepare for MMA bouts, Ana has developed a taste for the sport. “I’ve definitely thought about it, and I’ve tried a little bit of it,” Ana admitted. “I’ve gotten a little taste of it because of Loopy. I definitely like it, and I love learning. I think I already have the mindset for it, so I’ll definitely try it. I think it would be foolish for me not to try because it’s so easily available to me with my sister. That’s definitely something I’m looking into doing after I’m done wrestling. I don’t know when that’ll be, but I’ll definitely try it at least.”
Beyond personal achievements, Ana has a broader mission: to elevate women’s wrestling in Canada. “I feel like the more we win, the more it’ll get promoted,” Ana said. “I’m trying to do it. But I see there are a lot of girls coming up in Canada, doing better internationally. I feel like we’re going to follow the steps of the U.S. and expose wrestling to more schools and more girls. I really hope it does, because it’s such a great sport.”
