Mabel Fonseca

Mabel Fonseca Ramírez (born May 8, 1972 in Guantánamo, Cuba) is a retired amateur Puerto Rican freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's lightweight category.[1] She produced a remarkable tally of four career medals; three of them were bronze from the Pan American Games (2003 and 2007) and World Championships and a silver in the 59-kg division from the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games. Fonseca also had an opportunity to represent Puerto Rico at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but her participation had been marred by a disqualification for failing the doping test.[2] Throughout her sporting career, Fonseca trained as a member of the women's wrestling team for Esporto San Juan under her personal coach Reinaldo Jimenez.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fonseca and the second or maternal family name is Ramírez.
Mabel Fonseca
Personal information
Full nameMabel Fonseca Ramírez
Nationality Puerto Rico
Born (1972-05-08) 8 May 1972
Guantánamo, Cuba
Height1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubEsporto San Juan
CoachReinaldo Jimenez
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Puerto Rico
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place2003 Santo Domingo63 kg
Bronze medal – third place2007 Rio de Janeiro55 kg
Central American and Caribbean Games
Silver medal – second place2006 Cartagena59 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2002 Chalcis59 kg

Fonseca highlighted her wrestling career at the 2002 World Wrestling Championships in Chalcis, Greece, where she picked up a bronze medal in the 59-kg division over France's Sandrine Seve, and then boasted for another one at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[3][4]

When women's wrestling made its debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Fonseca qualified as a lone wrestler for the Puerto Rican squad in the 55 kg class. Earlier in the process, she chose to drop down her weight class by four kilograms and thereby placed fifth from the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States.[5][6] In the prelim pool, Fonseca pinned Ukraine's Tetyana Lazareva in her opening match, but fell behind Sweden's Ida-Theres Karlsson with a similar disposition before reaching the minute mark. Despite missing a spot for the semifinals, Fonseca had a chance to edge past U.S. wrestler Tela O'Donnell 10–7, and China's Sun Dongmei 8–6 in overtime during the classification rounds.[7] Fonseca originally claimed the fifth position, but was disqualified from the tournament after being tested positive for stanozolol, allowing other wrestlers behind her to upgrade their rankings.[2][8][9]

Upon lifting her two-year suspension from anti-doping violation, Fonseca returned to the wrestling scene, and captured two more medals in the lightweight category at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia, and at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[10] She also vowed to improve her gaming strategy and sought to compete for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but missed a spot from the Olympic Qualification Tournament.

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mabel Fonseca". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  2. "IOC sanctions wrestler Mabel Fonseca and weightlifter Ferenc Gyurkovics". Olympics. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  3. "Japan dominates women's wrestling; U.S. takes two medals". Olympics. 3 November 2002. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  4. Martinez, Noel (6 August 2003). "Se sumó otra de bronce" [Added another bronze] (in Spanish). Primera Hora. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  5. Abbott, Gary (17 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 55 kg/121 lbs. in women's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  6. Finley, Bill (14 September 2003). "Wrestling: The United States Women Are Undefeated at Worlds". New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  7. Woods, Mark (24 August 2004). "Alaska athletes hold their own in Athens". Morris News Service. Juneau Empire. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. "Wrestling: Women's Freestyle 55kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  9. "Summer of drugs as Games draw to a close". Independent Online (South Africa). 28 August 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  10. "Pierde mexicana bronce en lucha" [Mexican wrestler loses the bronze] (in Spanish). Terra Networks. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2014.


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