Clarissa Chun and Teshya Alo are 16 years apart, but the paths that bring them to the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials speak to a spirit and determination that is as remarkable as it is shared.

The 34-year-old Chun, a two-time Olympian from Roosevelt High, and Alo, an 18-year-old Kamehameha Schools senior chasing her first Olympiad, represent the disparate ends of the spectrum at the University of Iowa this weekend, where the U.S. team is to be selected for this summer’s games in Rio de Janeiro.

Convention suggests that Chun could have called it a career after winning bronze in London in 2012 at age 30 as the U.S.’s first women’s two-time Olympian in the sport. Just as custom hints Alo’s best chance might be 2020.

But bowing to the norm isn’t what they do. Slamming it to the ground and pinning it is what they are about since, perhaps, soon after they first stepped on a mat.

“I remember (Teshya) coming to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado when she was just a little girl and already beating up boys,” Chun said. “I don’t think she was even 10 years old yet, but you could see she was driven — and tough. And I loved it. That’s how I was at a young age.”

Chun competed in her first Olympic Trials at the age of 22, finishing second, something that spurred her on to make the ’08 and ’12 U.S. Olympic teams.

“I never wanted to feel like I didn’t go all-out and do my best,” said Chun.

Alo, who has won national honors in judo and jiu-jitsu, found wrestling to be her sport the hard way, after losing in her first national competition. “I was devastated, and that taught me how much I cared for the sport,” Alo said of a sport that her father and a grandfather competed in and her younger sister, Teniya, is winning titles in. “I wasn’t going to give up until I won.”

In December she finished third in the U.S. Senior World Team Trials in two weight divisions, 128 and 132 pounds, knocking off 2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell along the way.

“Watching Teshya compete at this level at her age (18), she is far beyond what I was at that age,” Chun said. “It is awesome to see, especially that she has no fear no matter who she is up against.”

It should come in handy in the heavily loaded 128-pound weight class, where Alo would have to get past two members of the U.S. 2015 World Team — Alli Ragan, who won the division, and Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, who moved down a weight class.

Chun said, “She inspires me.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Alo said. “She inspires me as well.”

Chun, who competes at 105.5 pounds, likely faces a showdown with Alyssa Lampe, a U.S. World Team member she defeated, two matches to one, to earn the 2012 Olympic berth.

For Alo and Chun, it is win their weight class or go home. “This isn’t like swimming or track — all you get is one shot to make the team,” a USA Wrestling official said.

Chun said, “I feel like we can, hopefully, be an inspiration to some others, both young and old. Hey, it doesn’t matter what age you are — you can be 18 or you can be 34.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.