He may not be competing anymore but Doug Cox, a long-time resident of Fergus, is passing on his gold medal knowledge as a coach.
Cox was 30 when he won gold in the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis. He had already been on an Olympic team in 1980, but Canada boycotted those games, and he never competed.
Cox wrestled in multiple world championships and competed against the same wrestlers he eventually faced in his Pan Am Freestyle 90kg pool. He had lost to them before.
But this time he came out on top. In the final match he faced Roberto Leitão, from Brazil, whom he defeated, winning gold for Canada.
“I had a great tournament. I don’t know if I got lucky or not,” said Cox.
He added it was great representing his country, noting, “(My dad) was a vet in the Second World War, it was quite nice to hear the national anthem.”
After his Pan Am win, he wrestled in the 1988 and 1996 Olympics and a multitude of other championships, spending 30 years in elite wrestling.
Now Cox is a coach at the University of Guelph, training a new generation of wrestlers. He is even a personal coach to Korey Jarvis, who will compete in this year’s Pan Am Games in Toronto.
“[The Pan Am Games will] be really, really tough, the Americans are really solid this year,” said Cox.
But he has some advice for his athletes, “You need to focus on your performance and not the outcome … the truth is you can win without doing your best and you can lose but have performed your best.”
