Justina Di Stasio’s lifelong dream is starting to feel more and more like a reality.
Di Stasio, a member of the Norwegian House Cree Nation in Manitoba, is a wrestler who will represent Canada at this summer’s Paris Olympics in France.
Di Stasio was in Toronto on April 16 for the unveiling of the athlete kit, which includes all the clothing that Canadian athletes will wear during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.
The event, held at The Liberty Grand in Toronto, was organized by lululemon, which is the official supplier of athletes representing the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees.
Di Stasio, who lives in east Vancouver, was excited to be among the Canadian athletes to model the clothes they will wear.
“Everything feels more like going to the Olympics,” he said, moments after the kit reveal. “Everything is a different experience. “This was a big one.”
The Paris Olympic Games begin on July 26.
“It will be the best 100 days of my life,” Di Stasio said.
At the athlete kit reveal, athletes modeled outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies, clothing for meeting the media and for walking around the athletes’ village.
And for those who succeed and win some hardware, there are also special clothing to wear on the podium.
“Everything is very nice,” Di Stasio said of the items. “People told me that you have to prepare yourself for the question what is your favorite item. And I thought it was going to be a difficult decision.”
Di Stasio walked the runway at the reveal wearing her opening ceremony look.
“I decided (this is my favorite) because I had to wear this,” she said.
Di Stasio was one of 19 Canadian Olympic or Paralympic athletes who participated in the athlete’s kit reveal.
“Being here and sharing this experience with many other Olympic athletes are people I admire,” he said. “I followed them on Instagram and watched them have great times, just being here with them is like ‘Wow.’ “This is like something real.” I am also here. So, it’s great.”
Di Stasio will represent Canada in the women’s 76 kilogram category.
“I still can’t believe I’m going to be an Olympian,” she said. “I worked so much and so hard and you have this great goal. But now it’s really happening. I’m working really hard to be present and enjoy it all because it’s surreal.
“Like dreams come true. You work really hard for them and then it really happens. You won’t want to miss it. So you want to be present every day.”
Di Stasio will be busy before traveling to Paris.
In addition to training sessions in Canada, he will also attend camps in Colorado and Oregon. Additionally, she will compete in a qualifying tournament in Budapest. And then she could also participate in a tournament in Italy.
“Budapest is the ultimate qualifying tournament,” said Di Stasio, who is currently ninth in his weight class in the world rankings. “If everything goes well, I will be able to return home. “If we need to fix things, we need another test tournament.”
Although he qualified to participate in Paris, Di Stasio said the qualifying tournaments are still important.
“We are waiting for the 16 girls to qualify for the Olympics (in my category),” she said. “So you want to be as high up as possible to get a better idea of what the draw will be. But realistically, wherever I am ranked, I will do what I have to do that day.”
Di Stasio, 31, is a former world champion and won the gold medal in her 72-kilogram division at the 2018 world meet.
She also won gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2019 Pan American Games.