Athletes build own wrestling hall to train during lockdown

Wrestler and Olympic hopeful Ana Moceyawa was in Morocco when the global impact of the Coronavirus started to be felt.

“I was at my Olympic qualification tournament and unfortunately it got cancelled before we got a chance to compete,” said Moceyawa.

"It was tough because I'd been training for that moment for a long time but peoples health and safety has to take priority."

From there the 30-year-old raced back to New Zealand where she hoped to reunite with her family in Christchurch.

“I had only just got back to New Zealand when we went into Alert Level Four so it was a real rush for me.

“I didn’t manage to make it to the South Island so I desperately wanted to be in a bubble where I could still train and be in a really positive environment. Luckily I managed to link up with my teammate Michelle Montague in Matamata and we’ve isolated together which has been great.”

The pair were determined not too miss out on training while in lockdown so they quickly set about ordering vital equipment.

“We actually built our own wrestling hall, so we ordered mats and got them on the second day of lockdown. Luckily they were still shipping at that point!”

The home-made wrestling hall has been a blessing for the pair, allowing them to practice throws and take-downs in their twice daily training sessions.

The wrestlers left feeling lucky they were still able to practice their passion while at alert level four.

“I’m very lucky to have a training partner who is a really good wrestler. We have a gym facility to use as well and can go for runs as well so we feel very thankful.”

The time spent in lockdown also providing a chance for Moceyawa to reflect on the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to 2021.

“I’m just thinking of it in a positive way, I’ve got another year to train and improve. Every training session I think it’s just around the corner, I’m gonna be even better than I am this year, so that’s what’s keeping me motivated.

“It’d be really easy to chill and watch Netflix all day at the moment with no coach standing over you telling you what to do but a year goes by fast so I want to be ready!”