Baraladei Daniel Igali was born on February 3,1974 and is a Nigerian-Canadian wrestler.
17 Facts About Daniel Igali
1.
2.
Daniel Igali won Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics and remains Canada's only male Olympic gold medalist in wrestling.
3.
Daniel Igali remained in the country while seeking refugee status due to political unrest in Nigeria.
4.
Daniel Igali enrolled at Douglas College before transferring to Simon Fraser University to study criminology.
5.
Additionally, Daniel Igali earned All-American honours three times and the two Gorriaran Awards for most pins in the least total time.
6.
In 2007, Daniel Igali was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
7.
Daniel Igali was later inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012.
8.
Daniel Igali's wrestling career is highlighted in a television documentary directed by Joel Gordon called, "Wrestling with Destiny: The Life and Times of Daniel Igali".
9.
Daniel Igali became the first elected president of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation in 2013, creating the highest morale athletes for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and highest medal hopefuls for Nigeria at the Games.
10.
In September 2022, Daniel Igali was elected as a board member of UWW for a five year term.
11.
On February 10,2005, Daniel Igali announced that he would seek nomination as a candidate in Surrey-Newton for the British Columbia Liberal Party in the 2005 provincial election in British Columbia.
12.
Daniel Igali won the nomination, but was defeated by New Democrat opponent Harry Bains in the election.
13.
Daniel Igali completed a Master of Arts degree in criminology at Simon Fraser University, having previously attended Douglas College.
14.
Daniel Igali is currently the coach of the Nigerian National Wrestling Team.
15.
In November 2006 Daniel Igali was injured during a violent robbery while in Nigeria.
16.
Daniel Igali is a two-term member of the Bayelsa State assembly and its sports commissioner.
17.
In 2012, Daniel Igali was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by Canadian Immigrant Magazine.