Q & A with Daniel Igali

January 27 2004

Among all the opportunities that have come Daniel Igali's way since he won Olympic wrestling gold for Canada in Sydney the most special may have been the chance to meet Muhammad Ali.
He was awestruck when led into a room to meet the boxing legend during a celebration of Ali held by the Toronto Argos in October of 2002.

Ali's speech is halting and usually barely above a whisper because of Parkinson's Disease, but Igali laughs heartily at the memory of what he clearly heard him say:

"You're so small. How could you be an Olympic champion?"

Ali's not the first to be struck by Igali's diminutive stature. And the 5-foot-6 grappler will be up against it on the road to the 2004 Athens Olympics as they've eliminated the weight class he won at Sydney, 69 kilos, and he must fight even taller opponents at 74 kilos.

Add to that a string of injuries, including a neck problem that had to be corrected by surgery, and the Nigerian-born athlete has a big challenge ahead as he goes into the first of two Olympic qualifying tournaments this weekend in Bratislava.

Igali chatted with Unplugged before departing on his trip.

Q You're taking your Masters in criminology at Simon Fraser University. What do you plan to do with your degree when you're done?

A (starts chuckling before the question is finished) That's a question I don't find very endearing. I'm not really sure. I'm looking at opportunities at the U.N. right now. One of the profs I work with has contacts there. I like diplomacy. That's one of the things I'm also looking at, working in the diplomatic corps. It would either be with Canada or with Nigeria. I'll decide that after the Olympics.

Q Why did you decide to specialize in criminology?

A As a kid, I flirted with wanting to be a lawyer, then I wanted to be a journalist. But I think the particular spark was that in the house I was
living at before, there was one of my neighbours who the police came looking for at about 12 o'clock at night. They had a warrant for him, but he wasn't there. But they came and knocked on my door and woke me up. They wanted to know if I had seen him. I told them I hadn't seen him all day. And they wanted to come in and see if he was in my room. This was in 1996. I was just in Canada for a couple of years. I know in Nigeria they would just break your door and come in. And here they were asking me for permission to even step in my house. I'm like `This is so cool.' (laughs) I decided it (criminology) was something I wanted to know more about.

Q Do you have a favourite motivational quote?

A Yes. This one from one of Nigeria's most well-known authors, Chinua Achebe: "Beyond the war and the warrior, only the story remains." That's what I try to live my life by. It just talks about being good at whatever you do and being nice to people, because the lasting image anybody's going to have of you is the impression you leave on people. So it doesn't matter if you lose or win, it doesn't matter who you meet, you just have to be a good presence so people can talk good stories about you.

Q Who were your heroes growing up in Nigeria?

A I looked up to the sports heroes, someone like Appah Macauley, who was a wrestling champion. Later, you started hearing about Nelson Mandela and all the struggles he had undergone. And Muhammad Ali was a big one. But after I grew up, I realized that probably my greatest hero must be my grandmother, because of everything she has done for me.

Q What kind of influence did your grandmother have on you?

A My parents left to study in England when I was young, so my grandmother was like my mom and my dad and my friend, everything. In Nigeria, corporal punishment, flogging kids, is a rampant thing. But she never lay her hands on me one day. Me and my two sisters who stayed with her pretty much had what we needed. We didn't have three meals, but we knew she would share anything she had. Later, I found out that she wasn't even my blood grandmother, she was my step grandmother. My grandmother actually passed away a few days after I was born. That made me respect her even more. I never knew that. When I came to Canada, my mother told me. So, she has been the greatest influence in my life without a doubt. If I go home, I spend most of my time with her. I always have a blast with her.

Q Describe what it's like when you return to your home village?

A It's a big deal. The kids are very excited. Everyone wants to wrestle with me all the time. We have visitors at my place from morning till night, up until I want to go to bed. It's just a riot. But it's so fun, because you have old people who come and sit down and teach you things about life. Time goes by so fast. Because you grew up there and that is all you saw growing up, you always have an appreciation for it. This past Christmas, I didn't get back and I felt like part of me wasn't alive.

Q How do you celebrate Christmas in Nigeria?

A In Nigeria and especially in the Niger Delta where I come from, Christmas is a festivity for seven days. There are wrestling matches almost every day. It's a time when you can go to any house and just eat. It's the only time kids get new clothes. It's like Halloween time but instead of coming around to your house for candy they ask for money. You have to save up coins and give to them. It's a blast.

Q You've been leading a project to build a well and school in your home village. Has it taken over a lot of your life?

A At this point, that project has taken a lot of my time and energy. It's a worthy cause so I don't really mind it. I think it has kind of compromised my training a little bit, too. But I'm quite happy to do it because it's something I seriously believe in.

(Donations can be made through http://www.CUSO.org)

Q Describe your ideal woman?

A She has to definitely be smart, because I think I'm going to be a very public figure. I want a woman who can hold her end of the bargain and represent herself very well in public. I am not really worried about colour. It doesn't matter where she's from, but someone that I can have a conversation with, somebody who is funny and can keep me on my toes. Somebody athletic, too, who takes care of their body. It's not too much. I just need somebody I can be very attracted to and someone that I can be comfortable with.

Q How good are you on skates?

A Not at all. I tried skates once and I could not even move a step. It was a pretty horrible experience.

Q What actor would you pick to play you in the Daniel Igali Story?

A Cuba Gooding Jr.

Q Given your status as an Olympic champion, is a lot expected of you when you go back to Nigeria?

A So much. So much. I get a lot of people who want me to donate money to different causes, to set up scholarships, to buy different equipment. All over the board, because people think I'm a multimillionaire.

Q Are you a millionaire?
A Not even close. But I do okay. I feel fortunate.

Q What kind of car do you drive?

A I drive a '93 Honda Civic. And you know a lot of people ask me all the time? I have a lot of people sometimes crowd around my car and go `What's going on, bro? What's going on? You gotta upgrade.' I'm like, `No, I'm comfortable with this car.'"