| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women's Wrestling | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Athens 2004 | Freestyle (48 kg) | |
Patricia Noriko Miranda (born June 11, 1979 in Manteca, California) is the first American woman in Olympic history to receive a medal in woman's wrestling at the 2004 Summer Olympics games in Athens, Greece. She wrestled in the 48 kg or 106 lb weight class in which she received the bronze medal. Miranda began her wrestling career at age eleven by becoming the first female to wrestle on both her middle and high school teams. She continued wrestling at Stanford University and eventually earned a spot on the all-male NCAA Division 1 roster as a 125-pound starter. During her senior year, Miranda became only the second woman in NCAA history to beat a male opponent in competition and the first in over a decade to do so at the time.
In female competition, Miranda has had strong success including two World Championship silver medals and an Olympic bronze medal. She is a medal favorite and a strong threat to win the gold medal at 48kgs. in Beijing’s 2008 summer Olympics.
Miranda earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s in International Policy Studies from Stanford University. In 2007, she received her Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School. She is currently training for the next Olympics.
Trivia
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- Miranda is the daughter of political refugees from Brazil.
- She was the first woman in California to be elected captain of her high school wrestling team.
- Miranda’s father initially opposed her wrestling and once threatened to sue her high school for allowing his daughter to wrestle on the boy’s team.
- Miranda’s father eventually allowed her to wrestle as long as she maintained a 4.0 grade point average.
- Her coach and husband, Levi Weikel-Magden is also a law school graduate earning his degree at the University of Virginia.
Career highlights
Olympic Games
Bronze Medal - Freestyle - 48 kg 2004 - Athens, Greece
World Championships
Bronze Medal - Freestyle - 51 kg 2006 - China
Silver Medal - Freestyle - 48 kg 2003 - New York, NY, United States
Silver Medal - Freestyle - 51 kg 2000 - Sofia, Bulgaria
World Cup Championships
Gold Medal - Freestyle - 51 kg 2007 - Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Gold Medal - Freestyle - 51 kg 2003
(Named Most Outstanding Wrestler, 2003)
Pan American Games
Gold Medal - Freestyle - 48 kg 2003 - Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic
