Wrestler with Guyanese roots realises Olympic dream

Jul 27, 2008 News

(By Alex Wayne)

Having a hearing impairment does not prevent 29-year-old Roger Stewart-Fredericks from finally living his lifelong dream of competing at the Olympics.

Fredericks will be participating in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China on August 08.

The young man, who hears only through the use of hearing aids in both ears, lives in and is representing the USA, but is of Guyanese parentage.

Presently he is visiting Guyana, and in an exclusive interview related the initial stages and final evolution of his Olympic dream.

This very optimistic and jubilant wrestler attended the Old Dominion University in Virginia, USA, and was the star wrestler there.

He said that during his time spent there his colleagues always expressed negativity about him, mainly because he is deaf in both ears. However, this wrestler was bent on proving them wrong.

This he eventually did when he qualified at trials, and is now on his way to representing the US in this year’s Olympics.

Roger discovered his interest in wrestling in 2000 and, as such, tried out in that field. Sadly, he only managed a fifth place at the trials that year.

Unrelenting, he entered the trials for selection the next year, but just managed to move up a notch, securing a fourth position.

Maybe it was frustration that kept him away for the next five years, but he returned with a bang this year and became the first deaf wrestler to make it into Olympic wrestling. Naturally, he has his sights set on a gold medal.

Roger says he will again attempt this feat at the 2012 Olympics. The optimistic contender is not afraid of his sometimes burly competitors since he holds onto the old adage that, “Lil axe does cut down big tree”.

Roger is the son of Guyanese-born Dawn Stewart, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Monique’s Caring Hands Organisation, a non-governmental entity involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

While in college in the US he was more focused on his academics, but wrestled occasionally out of curiosity.

Now he has moved up the ladder, is a certified wrestling coach and has his own wrestling academy, where he teaches children of varying age groups with the help of his brother Ryan.

After the 2008 Olympics, Roger says, he will devote his skills and time entirely to teaching young people to follow in his footsteps.

This is his second visit to Guyana, his first being at age fifteen. He is highly appreciative of the country’s beauty, and is overjoyed at reuniting with relatives, some of whom were strange to him.

He is very excited at Guyana’s rich, colourful culture, and indicated that he would have preferred to have been born here ‘in this beautiful, tropical dreamland,’ as he chooses to call it.

Roger believes that his success can give a ray of hope to other persons with ailments or impediments, so that they can still enjoy the joys and successes of life. He believes that hard work pays off, and declared that his accomplishments come from the Creator.

His favorite quote is: “If you believe in the Lord, if you ask, seek or knock, you will get strength from the Lord and earn a gold medal”.