Greek Australian wrestler, Irene Symeonidis, is set to make her Commonwealth Games debut in the women’s 57kg competition in Birmingham on Friday, August 5.
The six-time national champion has her sights set on a medal and has been well-trained at the Mat Masters Academy in Melbourne by her coach, Amin Yaqhob.
“When I met Amin, he gave me the confidence to keep trying and to go into competition,” Irene said in an interview with SBS Pashto in 2019.
“I lost a lot of my matches before I got a win, but he kept pushing me to keep trying. A lot of people may compete; they might lose and not try again. He gave me that kind of confidence.”
Irene is well-known in the wrestling arena, having competed in a number of championships.
After achieving a second placing at the Jagsport Invitational in Singapore in 2018, Irene finished runner-up in the 55kg at the Oceania championships in 2019 and went on to compete at her first world championships in Kazakhstan later in the year.
The 30-year-old also went to the Africa-Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Tunisa in 2021.
When she’s not wrestling, Irene works as an IT specialist at an engineering consultancy in Melbourne and wants to remain involved in growing the sport and live a self-sustainable life on a farm after she retires.
We wish her all the best with her debut!
Source: Commonwealth Games Australia.
