The 6-minute solution

Judo taught humility.

Swimming gave new meaning to dedication.

And wrestling?

Clarissa Chun searches to explain what the sport has taught her. What it has given her. And what she has given back.

As the 30-year-old prepares for her second — and perhaps final — Olympics, Chun is focused on what it will take to put her atop the medal podium in London.

No question she has the technique. Chun has proven that since winning two state championships at Roosevelt and bursting onto the national scene when placing second as a 17-year-old at the U.S. Nationals.

No question she has the toughness, both mental and physical. It has kept her at the top of the sport for more than a decade, with a passport of international and domestic titles.

But the question is complete concentration for 6 minutes, the time of a regulation wrestling match. Chun knows she didn’t have it June 30 when she finished fifth at the Canada Cup in Guelph, Ontario.

"There’s no excuse, I shouldn’t have lost either match," Chun said. "It was very disappointing. I don’t think my head was in it."

Her mind was some 1,500 miles west of the competition, back in her adopted hometown of Colorado Springs, Colo. The wildfires were raging before Team USA left for the competition, with Chun and neighbors going from pre-evacuation watch to mandatory evacuation.

"It was stressful," said Chun, whose townhome and neighborhood were spared. "I wasn’t getting much sleep before we left.

"I should have done better, but that’s done with. My primary focus is the Olympics and it’s more mental than anything."

Her coach, Terry Steiner, is not concerned. He has seen a positive shift in confidence and maturity in the four years since the Beijing Olympics.

"I think that coming into Beijing, Clarissa didn’t know if she belonged at that level," Steiner said. "She was a little surprised she made the team. But over the past four years she has shown that she belongs. She has won a world title, she’s beaten the best in the world.

"The biggest thing is she is harder on herself than any coach is. She needs to trust in her instincts, her natural instincts, not put a lot of thought into it and just get herself into the flow.

"There is no one more talented than her out there. It will be about not giving up easy points, not digging herself into a hole. We looked at (the Canada Cup) as a bad training day. The Olympics is a whole different ballgame. It’s a big deal and she’ll be ready."

Having been in one Olympics has helped.

"I know the process, how strong I want and need to go in," Chun said. "What I took away from Beijing … when I lost in the semifinals, I was (upset) at myself, for not doing more than what I was capable. That’s why I said I’m not done (competing). I knew I had more in me."

Wrestling is one of the earliest sports in recorded history and was one of the competitions in the ancient Olympics. It is brutal. It is demanding.

It’s particularly hard on Chun, who has struggled to keep weight on. At 4 feet 11, she is at the smaller end of the 48 kg (106 pounds) class.

Another battle she’s fought is acceptance of women’s wrestling. She was on Roosevelt’s first girls team, winning two state titles (1998-99) as Hawaii became the first to offer a girls state championship.

"Women’s wrestling has grown in the U.S., but there’s some people who think it’s a male sport," said Chun, who also competed in state tournaments for swimming and bowling for Roosevelt. "We’ll be going through an airport with trophies and people will ask us for what. We tell them and some of them don’t know that women wrestle.

"Every day is a step toward acceptance."

"Hawaii is our gold standard," Steiner said. "I wish the rest of the mainland saw the value in offering it to women. They’ve done a great job.

"Wrestling is just another martial art. I know wrestling coaches who will not let their daughters wrestle. They’ll send them to karate, judo, tae kwon do. People are coming around. We’re grateful for the state of Hawaii. It has produced a lot of our athletes."

Hawaii would have had a second representative in London but Stephany Lee (72 kg), a three-time state champion at Moanalua High, was disqualified last month after a failed drug test following the Olympic Trials.

"It was so unfortunate," Chun said of Lee. "It’s such an opportunity she’ll never get back.

"And my heart broke for (defending Olympic gold medal decathlete) Bryan Clay when he didn’t make the team. We have such huge pride being from Hawaii. Even though I’ve lived in Colorado for 10 years, my home is Hawaii. I was born and raised there and it never leaves me."

Chun said she was not ready to think about leaving the sport. All of her energy is concentrated on London.

"I get exhausted thinking beyond London," she said. "Wrestling is such a brutal sport, so hard on your body.

"Right now I’m feeling good, feel I have a realistic chance to medal. I’ve had some ups and downs, but I’ve also had some great tournaments, beaten some tough girls. I have a lot in my repertoire. I just have to be ready for the fight."

And after?

Perhaps putting her communications degree from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs to use. Perhaps bringing "Maximized Living," a chiropractic and whole-body wellness practice, to Hawaii.

And perhaps more travel.

"Wrestling has taken me around the world," Chun said. "I’ve been to some amazing places and to other places that make me appreciate what I have.

"I love learning about the culture and the language. If nothing else, I always try to learn to say ‘thank you’ wherever I am."