Injured Igali unable to compete at Olympic wrestling trials

December 12 2003

EDMONTON -- A year of utter frustration for Canada's most recognizable wrestler continued Thursday, as Daniel Igali removed himself from the Canadian Olympic team trials in Sherwood Park citing injury.
The move puts his already uncertain chances of competing at August's Summer Olympics in Athens in jeopardy.

The 2000 Olympic gold medallist can still earn the Canadian spot, however, but in a circuitous plan and depending on near perfect wrestling in the new year against Canadian and international competition.

"It's upsetting, because I want to compete," said Igali from his home in Burnaby.

He will arrive in Edmonton today for the three-day meet that will determine Canada's representatives to the upcoming Summer Games, but only to observe. A recurring rib injury has left him unable to train until at least Christmas.

"It's unfortunate, but it would be fool-hardy for me to wrestle this weekend," said Igali, whose performance at the Sydney Games became a symbol of Canada's showing.

"I've decided to do the intelligent thing -- the focus is to get healthy now, then face the contenders that come out of this weekend," said Igali, who now needs to defeat the top three 66-kilogram wrestlers from this weekend's meet, in that order, sometime in January.

Still, whoever earns the Canadian spot would need to qualify for Athens with a high finish at either of two international meets in February.

"It's unfortunate. But in an ideal world, Igali would have qualified at the last world championships,"said Dave McKay, the Canadian men's head coach, who also coached Igali at Simon Fraser University.

"He'd have been healthy and wrestled here, and then been able to concentrate on Athens."

Igali has filed an injury petition with the team, a common practice afforded to high-calibre athletes, which creates the wrestle-off in January.

"But, we have to deal with the reality of the situation, and that is that eventually he's going to have to step on the mat and perform," said McKay. "We have safeguards to help him and other injured athletes, but he's got to answer the bell."

Igali is no stranger to injury. After Sydney he missed most of the 2001 season with back problems, and had two vertebrae surgically fused last February to correct a ruptured disc in his neck.

"This year has been frustrating at best," said Igali, whose father died in the spring. "No year could be as bad as 2003 has been.

"I look at the positive, that it's almost over and I can focus on 2004," added Igali, who missed last summer's Pan American Games with dislocated rib cartilage.

The same rib injury was aggravated at the recent world championships in New York, where Igali placed 11th. The top-10 finishers at that meet qualified their nations to compete in the Athens weight classes.

The remaining nine Olympic berths will be decided at qualifying meets, Feb. 1 in Slovakia and Feb. 14 in Bulgaria, where athletes must finish either in the top four or top five, respectively. Canadians have already qualified in two weight divisions for Athens.

Ottawa's Evan MacDonald (66-kg men's freestyle) and Saskatoon's Viola Yannick (63-kg women) earned spots for Canadians in the Olympic pool at the last world championships.

Both must win this weekend's ladder tournament to represent Canada at Athens, along with competitors in the other weight classes, yet to qualify internationally.

Igali did receive some good news Thursday. The Canadian International Development Agency committed to matching his efforts to build a school in his hometown of Eniwari, Nigeria. Following his Olympic victory, Igali promised the children and families of Eniwari he would replace the existing school, a one-room shack.

He has already raised close to $200,000, half the expected funds necessary to build the school.