SURREY, B.C. (CP) – Losing came hard for Olympic gold medallist Daniel Igali who was defeated Tuesday night in his attempt to win the riding of Surrey-Newton for the Liberals in the British Columbia election.
Igali lost to NDP candidate Harry Bains in the diverse riding where half of the population of 50,000 list English as a second language.
“I want to say I’m sorry, “an emotional Igali, 31, told supporters at his campaign headquarters after conceding the race.
“After living here (in Canada), after all I accomplished, I felt I had a social responsibility. I am humbled by this show of loyalty and love.”
Born in Nigeria, where he grew up one of 21 children in a poor village, Igali went on to claim a wrestling gold medal for Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
“Today I came out on the short end of the stick but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort, “he told reporters.
Igali showed up to his campaign headquarters in a vacant space at a strip mall about 30 minutes after the polls closed. Wearing a brown suit and pink, open-collared shirt he was greeted warmly by supporters.
After the handshakes Igali nervously paced around the room, a look of concern etched on his face, as the early returns began pouring in.
He was used to training hard, then stepping onto the wrestling mat where he could control his own destiny. In this fight, voters he didn’t even know would determine his fate.
“Politics is a different game, “said Igali.
“As an athlete you train to win. I’ve suffered defeats in sports and in life I’ve had a lot of hard knocks.”
Igali said he would consider running for office again.
Igali knew he’d be in a fight to win Surrey-Newton, a bedroom community bordering on Vancouver. The riding has a strong Indo-Canadian presence and Bains, a prominent union executive, had deep roots in the community.
But Igali, a compact man with a beaming smile and booming laugh, also has strong Indo-Canadian connections. When he defected to Canada in 1994, he was provided a place to live by Satnam Johal, a prominent Indo-Canadian businessman from Surrey.
Igali has travelled a long and impoverished road, enjoying both triumph and heartbreak.
He captured the hearts of Canadians at the Sydney Olympics.
Moments after defeating Russian Arsen Gitinov to win gold in the 69-kilogram class, he spread a Maple Leaf on the mat, jogged around it, then knelt and kissed the flag.
Four years later in Athens, dogged by injuries and forced to wrestle in a higher weight class, Igali was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 74-kilogram division.
Igali was born in rural Nigeria, in the village of Eniwari, Bayelsa state. As a child there often wasn’t enough food for everyone in the family, meaning he learned young to fight for what was his.
Igali was captain of the Nigerian wrestling team that competed at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games. He decided to stay in Canada instead of returning home and continued training despite not having bus fare to travel to the gym some days.
He gained his citizenship in 1998 and became the first Canadian to win a world amateur wrestling title.
Igali dedicated the title to Maureen Matheny, the surrogate mother who took him under her wing. She died of cancer a few days after Igali returned home. He presented her with the gold medal.
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