Watson Lake wrestler Brittanee Laverdure is recovering from a broken finger and a black eye today.

The silver medal around her neck is helping to ease the pain.

The 32-year-old earned a hard-fought silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland yesterday, losing her final match to India’s Babita Kumari in the 55-kilogram freestyle event.

Laverdure, who grew up in small-town Yukon but now lives in Calgary where she practises law, had dispatched opponents from Cameroon and Nigeria to earn a berth in yesterday’s final.

She went on to suffer a compound fracture in the pinky finger on her left hand before losing 9-2 to the gold-medal winning Kumari.

“I’m happy,” Laverdure told the Star today from Glasgow. “It’s hard, because in my sport we have aspirations to be top-five in the world. A silver’s great. It’s a good stepping stone for me.”

Laverdure is hoping to compete for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Despite her win, however, Laverdure said she took her final loss hard.

“I didn’t wrestle my best match,” she admitted. “You can swallow a loss a lot better when you know you put it out there, but I made a lot of tactical errors.”

The five-foot-three, 127-pound Laverdure beat Cameroon’s Joseph Essombe Tiako in the quarters, before coming back to beat Nigeria’s Ifeoma Nwoye in the semifinal.

But in the final, her opponent Kumari roared out of the gate, building up a 6-0 lead before Laverdure knew what had happened.

“I was slow off the start, and then she was just keeping me tight,” Laverdure explained. “She really just shut me down.”

The finger injury came late in the final when Laverdure attempted to go on the offensive.

“I think it was off of my own move,” she chuckled. “I knew I had to score some points with a big takedown, and I don’t know if I hit her leg ... but I kind of glanced out of the corner of my eye at my finger and I was just like ‘That is disgusting.’ You could see the bone sticking out of it.”

Time expired shortly after and Laverdure was whisked away to a medic, and she missed the team photo while she received stitches.

Meanwhile in Watson Lake, Laverdure’s number one fans were watching her via webcast yesterday.

Her parents, Leslie and Shirley Laverdure, continue to be delighted with her athletic accomplishments.

“We’re very proud of her,” Shirley said yesterday. “She’s a Kaska under the Liard First Nation and she’s a role model for all our youth. She’s come from a small area and she’s accomplished lots. You just have to be determined and set your mind to it.”

Watson Lake, a small Yukon community of 800 people, is more than 430 kilometres east of Whitehorse.

Laverdure was always a natural when it came to sports, and got her start in wrestling at Watson Lake Secondary School under the tutelage of Greig Bell, the father of cyclist Zach Bell.

“He taught wrestling here and asked both my daughters (Brittanee and Leslee) to join,” Shirley Laverdure explained.

“At first when they joined, they didn’t know what they were getting into.

“Zach was in wrestling too, and then he got into the biking business.”

Brittanee’s oldest sister, Vanessa Law, said she didn’t realize how big the Commonwealth Games were until yesterday.

“I feel pretty proud of her,” Law said. “It’s a pretty big deal. Our community roots for her. We’re pretty proud of the people who come from Watson Lake and go big in the world.”

Zach Bell, the other Yukon athlete at the Games, was in the stands for Laverdure’s gold medal bout.

Fresh off a 14th-place finish in the men’s road cycling time trial, Bell said his former Watson Lake classmate fought hard in the final, but was “stonewalled” by an excellent defender in Kumari.

Bell said medalling at the Commonwealth Games is an “amazing career achievement.” He previously won a bronze in the scratch race at the 2010 Games in Delhi, India.

“I am really happy to see her still excelling in a sport we picked up together 20 years ago,” Bell told the Star. “Can’t wait to see her compete in Rio.”

Bell, who is competing for Canada in both track and road cycling in Glasgow, has one event left – the men’s road race on Sunday.

The 31-year-old, who suffered a collarbone injury early in the season, admitted he is still recovering.

“For the most part, I am here with a young group and trying to find my form after coming back from my injury,” said Bell, now a resident of North Vancouver.

“The field here is truly world class, so it is a good measuring stick. I still have some work to do, but it has been good to get some high-level competition in the legs again.”

The Commonwealth Games involve athletes from the British Commonwealth of Nations, and are known as the third largest multi-sport event on the planet.

Watson Lake mayor Richard Durocher said the athletic successes of his town’s residents have been a boon to the community.

“Watson Lake ... we do get kicked in the rear end from time to time on certain social issues,” Durocher said.

“But when we do get two people like that who show Watson Lake in such a positive light, and are so enthusiastic about making sure they tell people where they’re from, it gives the whole community a whole sense of pride for the both of them.”