BEIJING -- First, Carol Huynh blew kisses to her family.

 

Carol Huynh (Canada/facing camera) wrestles Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) in the Women's Freestyle 48 kg. Wrestling comepetition at the Beijing Olympic Games August 16, 2008. Huynh won the match.

Photograph by : Larry Wong / Canwest News Service

 

Carol Huynh of Canada poses with her gold medal in the 48kg women's freestyle wrestling at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 16, 2008.

Photograph by : Reuters

They were easy to pick out among the crowd the China Agricultural University Gymnasium, what with the red-and-white hand-made "Go Carol" T-shirts they were all wearing.

Then Huynh waved in every direction as she ascended the podium, her smile a permanent beam of white light. Then the tears came and they kept coming, but the smile never wavered.

"Tears of happiness," Huynh explained.

Finally, as O Canada was played, Huynh lost the battle to contain herself and was overcome with emotion.

Why not?

She was an Olympic champion after all.

Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., the daughter of Vietnamese boat people who came to Canada as refugees, brought the country its first gold medal of the Beijing Games, defeating two-time reigning world champion Icho Chiharu of Japan 2-0 to take the 48-kilogram women's freestyle wrestling title Saturday at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium.

Huynh won the first period 4-0 and took the second period 2-1. The first athlete to win two periods is the winner.

Huynh's victory was followed by a bronze-medal effort from Tonya Verbeek, of Beamsville, Ont., in the women's 55-kilogram division.

"It's a great day for Canadian wrestling," said Verbeek's coach, Marty Calder. "I'm so happy to be part of this."

Huynh had never beaten Chiharu before, but took it to the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, beating her to the punch with her lightning-quick moves.

"I knew that I had to set the tone and make sure I wrestled my match and it worked," Huynh said. "When I took her out of bounds for the three points (in the first round), at that point I knew I had her."

There was no sign of Huynh's name anywhere on the pre-competition list of medal contenders issued by the International Olympic Committee and she was fine what that.

"I was OK with kind of flying under the radar," Huynh said, while adding her own pre-competition assessment of her gold-medal chances. "I knew it was a possibility."

As the day progressed and Huynh made short work of one opponent after another, it seemed more like a probability.

When it became a reality late Saturday afternoon, the ever-smiling Huynh broke down and bawled like a little girl who'd skinned her knee, not a compact dynamo who'd skunked all the best wrestlers in the world.

Stepping up to accept her gold medal, she was absolutely delighted to shine in the spotlight.

"I was waving to my family especially and to all of my friends and teammates and coaches and then I was just waving at any Canadian flag I could see," Huynh said. "I was just thinking how proud I am to be Canadian and about the road I took to get here. It's been a long one, but a good one."

A hard road, too, one that was started by her parents, displaced Vietnamese refugees whose move to Hazelton was sponsored by the local United Church.

"They've spoken about it a few times, but just little snippets," Huynh said of her parents' ordeal as boat people.

Born in China, Viem Hunyh moved to Vietnam, settling in Ho Chi Minh City with his wife Mai Trinh, who was originally from Vietnam.

"They had nothing (when her parents came to Canada)," Huynh said. Supporting five children, her father worked as a carpenter, did odd jobs, later landing a position at a sawmill. Huynh's mom waitressed.

Eventually, they opened a small hotel in Hazelton, the Bulkley Valley Motel, which they sold in May, moving into retirement.

"They worked so hard for us to have a better life," Huynh said. "I'm pretty sure I learned my work ethic from them."

Like most wrestlers, Huynh learned her lessons from the school of hard knocks. After failing to make the 2004 Olympic team, Huynh dedicated all of her energies to ensuring 2008 would be a reality.

"I made a commitment four years ago after I didn't make the Athens Olympic team to being on this team," she said. "I really tried to do everything I could to get me here.

"One of those things I knew I really had to work on was my confidence. I started working with a sports psychologist."

Leigh Vierling, Huynh's coach, who celebrated his birthday Saturday with a gold medal from his athlete, noticed the change in Huynh.

"She was of the attitude that, 'OK, now's her time,' " Vierling said. "She was very confident. In the past, she didn't allow herself to be as confident.

"She embraced me after her semifinal match and said, 'Happy birthday.' I said, 'You're not getting away with that one. We've still got some work to do.' "

Amazingly, Huynh, 27, believes this will be her lone Olympic experience.

"I'm not sure about another four years," she said. "Another one or two for sure, but I don't think I could go another four.

"I'm getting old for this."

She also wasn't sure how she'd celebrate her sudden status as Canada's golden girl.

"I have to go pee in a cup first," Huynh said. "Then I'll think about celebrating."

Bob Duff is in Beijing as part of the Canwest News Service Olympic Team