Tonya Verbeek is a veteran international competitor who placed fifth at the 1995 world championships. Since 2002 she has posted some strong international results including bronze at the 2002 world university championships and gold at the 2003 Pan Am Championships. She made the Olympic team by placing third in women's 55 kilos at a qualifier earlier this year to assure Canada a full women's team at the Games.
She was named female athlete of the year at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., in 2000 and 2001. She is completing a Masters in education.
