Biography

Baraladei Daniel Igali was born in the Niger Delta on February 3, 1974. Growing up in Eniwari, one of the poorest villages in Nigeria, food was always hard to come by. Igali regularly had to share what little food he could get with his 20 siblings. It was during these meal times, where Igali would literally have to wrestle his siblings for his share of food that his natural talent for the sport of wrestling began to develop. By the age of 16, he competed in his first national competition- and won.

By 1994, he was the African National Champion and competing in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C. Shortly before Igali was due to return to Nigeria, he realized that Canada could offer him the athletic training and educational opportunities that were scarce in his native land. It was then that he made the difficult decision to remain in Canada and was given refugee status due to the heavy political unrest in Nigeria.

Igali enrolled at Douglas College before transferring to Simon Fraser University where he pursued an undergraduate degree in Criminology. Over the next three years, Igali secured an amazing 116-0 record in collegiate competition. In 1996, he lost to American Terry Steiner 7-4 in the final match of the Clansmen International Tournament. Vowing never to be embarrassed again, a determined Igali changed his training regimen and placed 4th at the 1998 World Championships.

In 1999, Igali became the first Canadian male to win the Wrestling World Freestyle Championship. One year later, Igali won gold for Canada at the Sydney Olympic Games- the first Canadian to do so for wrestling. Igali’s victory dance around the Canadian flag and the kiss he placed upon it afterwards has become an iconic Canadian image. He dedicated his gold medal to Maureen Matheny, Igali’s surrogate mother in Canada, who passed away in 1999. Igali was inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Shortly after his Olympic win, he established the Daniel Igali Foundation and began work on building a school in his Eniwari village- The Maureen Matheny Academy. In 2002, in partnership with Canadian University Students Overseas (CUSO), which has overseen the project, he began securing funds for the school. In total, more than $600,000 has been raised. In 2006, Igali’s dream project officially opened its doors to the children and community of Eniwari. He continues to raise funds and awareness for the school and hopes to build more like it in the Niger Delta.

Igali divides his time between living in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada and overseeing the Maureen Matheny Academy in Eniwari, Nigeria.