Clarissa Chun’s driver’s license and birth certificate tell one story about her age.

Her medical chart — three shoulder surgeries, two on her knees and another on an elbow and untold back and neck injuries — from a world-class career on the wrestling mat tell quite another.

Which is part of what makes the Roosevelt High graduate’s determined pursuit of a record third consecutive Olympics at the advanced age — for her sport — of 34 so remarkable.

It was testament to the challenge that she has undertaken and the way she has approached it that the West Virginia University men’s wrestling team, 20-plus strong, lined up to greet her early Monday morning after her return from Texas, where she won the gold medal Saturday in the Pan American Games 105.5-pound women’s freestyle division.

“It was really something to see, the pats on the back, hugs and congratulations,” said Sammie Henson, the Mountaineers’ coach. “It was special, but, then, she’s very special to us. She’s part of the family.”

Officially, the one they call “Chun” is the Mountaineers’ director of operations, overseeing a multitude of off-the-mat tasks for the team. On the mat, where she trains, she is both an inspiration and, “one of the guys.”

Henson said, “They see how hard she works and how driven she is.”

Chun said, “I get a lot of bro’ hugs and handshakes.”

At her age, 12-16 years older than the team members, she jokes that she sometimes, “Feels like the team mom. I take care of things when they travel, paperwork, whatever needs to be done around the office.”

It is a part-time position where flexibility allows her to train in the facilities for this one last charge for Olympic gold after placing fifth in 2008 in Beijing and taking bronze in 2012 at London.

“This is it for me,” Chun said. “I’d like to go to Tokyo in 2020 — but just to watch and root for Team USA.”

The immediate goal is six weeks away, the U.S. Olympic Trials in Iowa City, where the team for this summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will be picked.

It figures to be a decidedly young roster, one that could include 18-year-old Teshya Alo out of Kamehameha Schools at 128 pounds. Chun’s top four competitors in the 105.5-pound division average 23 years in age, something she gave considerable thought to in planning her quest.

That’s part of what prompted her to forsake training in Colorado Springs, the U.S. headquarters, for Morgantown, where she also likes the camaraderie. She knew Henson from a prior association at Missouri and the fact that the coach, a bronze medalist at the 2000 Games and former world champion, had been a world-class competitor well into his 30s.

“When you get up there in age,” Henson said, “it is good to train hard, but you’ve got to train hard and smart. Not many are still going at her age, they’re mostly retired by then.”

Chun says, “wrestling is an intense, tough sport,” knowledge she has come by painfully, having been bitten by an opponent in the 2012 Games. “It is very physical and combative,” Chun said. “And, you’re not just preparing for one match, but six or seven in a tournament.”

“What she is doing is special,” Henson said. “She’s one of a kind.”

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