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Saskatoon’s Katie Dutchak is hoping she’ll soon be booking a plane ticket to Paris.
Dutchak is travelling to Edmonton this weekend to compete in the Olympic qualifiers for wrestling.
The weekend will be a chance at redemption for Dutchak, as she missed out on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
“This has been a four-year block of training for something that I think every athlete dreams of at some point in their career,” she said.
“I did Olympic trials in 2019, and it was kind of a last-minute decision to do that. I had actually left the sport for a couple years and had been thinking about coming back. I was coming back (to the University of Saskatchewan) for another degree and had one year of eligibility left.”
According to Dutchak, she trained for two-and-a-half months for the Olympic trials in 2019 and still finished third despite taking so much time off. But there is only one Olympic spot up for grabs per weight category, so Dutchak ended up missing out.
Wrestler Katie Dutchak has been training for the Olympic trials for the past four years. (Shane Clausing/650 CKOM)
While she said it was disappointing for her to barely miss out on qualifying for the Olympics, Dutchak said it motivated her to try and qualify again for 2024.
“I was hungry again,” she said. “I knew that I had more in the tank and I knew that I was ready to do a full quad (four years of training).”
Dutchak graduated from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Nursing in 2021, but she has taken a step back over the last 18 months and switched from working full time to a casual schedule in order to focus on getting to the Olympics in Paris.
“I’ve been all around the world training in different rooms with different teams, working towards different tournaments to help prepare for this weekend,” Dutchak said.
Dutchak said she’s probably participated in anywhere from eight to 15 different tournaments in six to eight different countries over the last 18 months as she prepared for the biggest tournament of her life.
With a big opportunity ahead of her, Dutchak said she just has to focus on what’s made her successful in order to give herself the best chance to qualify.
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“What I really want to work on is staying true to my style and staying true to what I love about wrestling, which is learning from it and being curious within it,” she explained.
“That’s when I have the most success on the mat and when I have the most enjoyment with the sport. I think for me to get the outcome that I want, I just have to enjoy the process and enjoy every second of it.”
Dutchak will need to win every match she competes in if she wants to qualify for the Olympic team. She said she’s a tad nervous for what lies ahead, but is also feeling very confident.
“I think when you pour everything into a passion, a sport, and experience, then the nerves are there because you care about it,” she stated.
“It’s a whole roller coaster, but all those emotions are part of the ride, so you’ve just got to go with it.”
Shane Bradley is one of Dutchak’s coaches, and works out of the University of Saskatchewan’s wrestling program. He said he’s confident Dutchak can achieve her goal this weekend.
“We’ve seen some really good progress with her. We’ve had lots of opportunities for her to compete nationally and internationally, and she’s ready to compete for an Olympic spot,” Bradly said.
“She’s right in there with the other athletes trying to make 50 kilos, so she’s ready to go.”
Bradly has been coaching at the University of Saskatchewan for 35 years, and said has had the chance to coach several Olympians along the way.
Some of those include Gord Gravie (1968), Viola Yanik (2004) and Jillian Gallays (2016).
Bradley said he’s sending seven athletes from Saskatoon to the Olympic trials.