Mabel Fonseca

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) May 8, 1972 (age 52)
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 place 2003 Santo Domingo 63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Rio de Janeiro 55 kg
Central American and Caribbean Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Cartagena 59 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Chalcis 59 kg

Mabel Fonseca Ramírez (born May 8, 1972) 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.

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.

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