NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan -- Canada's Linda Morais rallied to win gold Thursday in the women's 59-kilogram division at the world wrestling championships.
The 26-year-old from Tecumseh, Ont., trailed Liubov Ovcharova 6-1 but fought back to pin the Russian.
Morais, a two-time world university champion, won bronze at 60 kilograms at the 2016 world championships.
She becomes Canada's 12th women's wrestling world champion.
The 59-kg division is not an Olympic class. Morais has competed at 62 kg, an Olympic division, in the past. She could move up in weight for the Olympic trials in December.
A top six finish in an Olympic weight class at the world championships qualifies a quota spot for Canada in that division in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. An athlete who finishes in the top six gets a bye to the finals at the Canadian wrestling trials in December.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2019.
