Just five more days..
September 23 2000

It is Just five days before I weigh in and six days before I have my first match at the millennium Olympics. As the days get closer, I am getting more nervous. I have tried as much as I can to distract myself, but it's hard not to think about my opponents, the ones I have never wrestled and the ones I have met in previous tournaments. The atmosphere here in Mittagong is quiet and serene. The birds chirp continuously. It is as if they are sending me a message. I cannot understand what they are saying, but I want to think that they are singing to soothe my fears and to wish me luck. Yes! they are wishing me luck.

We made a trip to the Games village three days ago. The reason was to take a breather and not be drowned by Olympic preparation. It has been a good strategy. We leave again for Sydney after this morning's training session. Again, it will be another welcome break. We have visited Wollongong, Canberra, and watched kangaroos at play in the evening. We are having a great time, but we also know that there is a job to do.

I am back to the form I want to be. The cold is almost gone, I have regained my strength and I am sleeping about six hours per day. Six hours of sleep per day at this time is ideal for me. If I were sleeping about eight or nine hours per day, I'd be really worried. My body has got to wake up at the slightest noise; my body has to react to every move. That means, I am ready.

Lately, there has been a lot of criticism concerning the poor medal results for the Canadian Olympic team. The team has not faired as well as expected and our medal count low than everyone expected. Athletes who were expected to win have not produced the desired results. The assumption is that we are not giving it our best. What most people don't realize is that the Olympics are a totally different ball game from any other competition. Any anything can happen.

From what I understand, most of our athletes have broken their personal bests, yet they have not medalled. To me, that is not a lack of effort. Sometimes, one's best is not good enough for a medal. Does that mean we are not as good as other countries? Does it mean that other countries put in more money to their sporting programs? Have we prepared our athletes well enough? Does the increase in funding four months before the Olympics warrant tens of gold medals? I don't have the answers, but I do know that we need to provide more financial support our amateur athletic programs. Maybe the corporate sector, more than ever, has to get involved in amateur sport funding. We are ambassadors of Canada, we are soldiers and we need to be well armed to do battle.

On my part, I will be candid about my feelings. I have trained, I have done everything I should do to have a good performance. I'm in great spirits and can't wait for the whistle to blow. But I am also very nervous. Not because of any kind of pressure, but because this is how I feel when tournaments are creeping up on me. I am at a point in my wrestling career where I do not doubt my abilities. Rest assured that I will give it my best shot. Will my best shot be good enough for a medal? We'll wait and see. I am not nervous because I'm afraid of getting beat. Nelson Mandela puts it best. "Our deepest fear is not that we are incapable, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure".

Wish me luck and keep sweating.

Daniel (Dynamite) Igali.