​Holy cow! This month just flew by! I felt like a celebrity; I was on CTV 3 different times, CBC news Radio, 98Cool and a photo shoot for the Green and White. My fundraiser was a huge success.  It is overwhelming how many people were there to support me and everyone who couldn’t make it. I need to give a major shout out to my Team that was helping run the event. They did such an amazing job!  There was 220 people there for dinner and even more people that came later to celebrate with me. WOW how amazing is that. I think people had fun with the games. I lost in the first round of Rock/Paper/Seizers and didn’t get a chance to play giant jenga. My competitive side was very mad I lost so quickly but my social side was happy I was able to socialize with everyone. If you weren’t able to purchase a T-shirt at the fundraiser you can buy them at Craven SPORT Services. $20 a shirt and all the proceeds go to me. Thank you everyone!!!  I am so honored you want to be apart of my Ride to Rio. Only bigger and better things to come.
 
My month of fun is over. It is time to get back to the grind. I am so ready to have a routine and to get on the mats full time. It was good to have some time away to rejuvenate with my friends and family. I think I really needed that. All the the donations I have received will help decrease my financial stress. That is thanks to all of you; Team Gallays.
 
The next few months are going to fly by. I am now back in Ontario training. In a few weeks the female Olympic team is headed off to Oahu, Hawaii for a week long training camp; April 24-May 1. I will have two competitions this summer before I leave to Rio: Germany - May 15 and Canada Cup (Guelph, ON) - June 25h. There will also be a camp in St. Catharine’s before Canada Cup. I have a packed schedule leading up to the Olympics. 
 
I will leave for Rio on August 2nd. We will stay in the village for a few days, so we can be apart of opening ceremonies (So pumped for those). After that we will leave Rio and go to Buzio. It is about 2 hours away. This is where we will do our tapering camp. We are leaving the village so we can focus on the wrestling and get away from all the craziness that is the Olympics. We will come back to the village around August 15th. I compete on August 18th. 135 Days till I compete! Wow. This summer is going to go so fast. 

I would like to let you know I am having a Fundraiser Celebration on April 2nd at Gordie Howe Bowl in Saskatoon, SK. It is a fundraising event but I want it to be more of a celebration. I am proud to be from Saskatchewan and I am excited to celebrate with everyone. My journey has never been a straight line. It has been more of a roller-coaster. I would be so honored if you would be apart of my Ride to Rio!
 
The night will include dinner, games, a midnight snack and a DJ with great music. There will also be door prices, 50-50 and so much more fun!
 
Tickets are $30 for Dinner + Games + Social. The event starts at 6pm and will run until 1am (or whenever they kick us out). If you are unable to make dinner and still what to come later you can join us for $20 Games + Social come anytime after 8pm.
 
You can purchase tickets on my website Jilliangallays.com. OR if you don’t feel comfortable paying online you can go into Craven SPORT services (#3-701 2nd Ave N, Saskatoon, SK) Cash ONLY.
 
I really hope to see everyone there! It is going to be a great event. 

#JILLAKILLA #RideToRio #SaskPride

If you have door prizes contact Karen - kjohb@sasktel.net or Katie k_dutchak@live.com 

I won my Wrestle offs!!!! I am an Olympic team member.   HURRAY!!! Winning this event is a huge relief. I am so excited for what is still to come! 
 
I still have more challenges ahead. By winning today I am the Canadian at 53kgs that could represent Canada in the Olympics. I now need to qualify Canada. The next Olympic qualification tournament is Pan Ams March 5th in Dallas, Texas. If I place top two at this tournament, I will be on my way to Rio. If I do not place top two at Pan Ams, I will have two other Olympic qualification tournaments I can go to. Mongolia April 23 and Turkey May 7. The best-case scenario is I win Pan Ams and do not have to go to Mongolia or Turkey. 
 
I am just so excited right now.  I am ready to kick butt and make my Olympic dreams come true. 

I have been waiting to get all the information before I wrote this letter. The Canadian Olympic Trials were December 5th. I did not compete in the Trials because I was able to obtain an injury provision.  This means I still have an opportunity to make the Olympic team. My wrestle off will be held in Brampton, Ontario on Feb 6th. It is a closed event, which means no one is allowed to watch; this is to keep it neutral for all athletes traveling from farther away. 
 
This type of wrestle off is a little different then most. I will have to beat Brianne Barry first. Then I will have to win two matches in a row against Sam Stewart. If I loose at any point there will be no farther matches. This is due to the fact that I am challenging the Olympic spot. Since Sam Stewart won Trials she would only have to win once to keep her spot. 
 
I am very happy I was able to have this opportunity for a wrestle off. My body is starting to feel much better, more like the old me every day. It is a great feeling to train for the sack of training not for rehab. It has been 5 months since I have been in a tournament. The last 2 weekends I have competed in the Brock Open and Guelph Open; I won them both. I am just working out the nerves but I am wrestling well. I am looking forward to this being an amazing summer.


Jillian Gallays 

​In June I won World team trials at 55kgs; which is a Non-Olympic weight class.  I was very excited to go represent my country at worlds in Las Vegas in September.
 
I was in Madrid, Spain in July. It was very interesting. Spain was going through a heat wave when we were there, so it was challenging to recover correctly.  The only place close by that had air conditioning was the training center; where the camp was held. Most days I would walk down and hangout in the building in between sessions to cool down. We were staying in dorm rooms where there was no Air conditioning and the coldest it got at night was +25 degrees. So there was a lot of hot uncomfortable sleeps. The tournament was held in a building that did not have air conditioning; it was also the longest tournament I have ever been in. It was over 15 hours long. We didn’t leave the tournament till midnight. I ended up 3rd. It was a crazy trip but what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, ha and it is a good story I don’t think I will ever forget.
 
After Spain I flew back to Ontario for 6 days to recover, see some great friends and then fly out to Warsaw, Poland for another tournament and camp. In Poland I didn’t have a great tournament, I lost to someone I believe I should have beaten but not everyday can be your best. I learned a lot and got to see a lot of great wrestling. Unfortunately on the first day of camp, I was wrestling with my partner and another group of girls fell on my leg and I tore my MCL and meniscus. I flew home as soon as I could and I got meniscal surgery 2 weeks later. My MCL has to heal on its own and I am not sure how long it will take to fully heal and get back on the Mats. I am back in Saskatoon for my rehab where I am trying to stay as positive as possible. With this unforeseen circumstance I will not be competing at World championships in Las Vegas. But I do plan on competing at Olympic trials December. The Olympics is my goal and I have not given up on it yet.
 
Saskatoon Wrestling club is having a golf tournament fundraiser on Sept 20th. I will be there and I hope some of you will be able to attend and support the club that has done so much to me and supported me through all my highs and lows. 

​Sorry it has been so long since my last newsletter. The past few months have been very stressful physically, emotionally and financially. I have been working my butt off to stay as positive as I can.
 
At the end of November I was down in Brazil. I had a good tournament and was ready to get home to amp up my training and kick butt!  The first week back from Brazil I subluxed my elbow; which tore a ligament. I had to take several weeks off the mats. It is normally a minimum 6-8 week recovery, but I worked very hard on my rehab and was able to compete in Siberia, Russia at the end of January. I was excited to compete and represent my country. It is always great to have these opportunities and I did not want to miss out on the chance to compete. In my second match in Russia I hurt my knee and needed to pull out of the tournament. Once again this injury was another minimum 6-8 week recovery.
 
National Championships was 8 weeks away and I needed to rehab another injury and take more time off the wrestling mats. I flew straight to Saskatoon for my rehab where I got so much support from Craven Sport Services, friends and family. It gave me the push I needed to keep fighting for my goal. I am a soldier and sometimes you need help along the way to remind you. I thank them so much for getting me through that month. Once I got back to St. Catharines I was ready to train hard. I could have taken an injury provision, but that is not who I am. In my final two weeks before nationals I was on the wrestling mat training to win. I owed that to my competition and myself.
 
There are no excuses for my result at National Championships. I put in all the work I could and trained as much as I could. I mentally felt ready to compete, but once I stepped onto the wrestling mat I froze. There was a disconnected between my mind and body. I ended up with 4th place. I didn’t perform when I needed to while others did. I truly believe everything happens for a reason and this is only a bump in the road on my journey to the Olympics. I know I am the best athlete at 53kgs and I know I will be ready to compete at Olympic trials in December. I will be ready to put it all on the line. These last 4 months of hard times is only making me stronger! Throughout my journey I have experienced success and setbacks… This will not break me. My passion and determination is more powerful then anything the world can throw at me.
 
Due to my result at National Championships I will not be competing at Pan Ams Games this summer. But I still have a chance to make the world team at 55kgs, which is a non-Olympic weight class. This tournament will be held in June. I will be taking the next few weeks off and get some much needed R&R. Start my summer training off with a healthy body and soul.  

​I took much-needed time off the mats after my season end finish of 3rd place at Sr. World Championships. I went back to Saskatoon it was great to see my friends and family. Thank you for all the love and great wishes.
 
It was difficult to get back into the groove of things in St. Catharine’s after such a high of emotions. My first few competitions in Philadelphia and New York, I did not do very well. In the words of my coach; Marty Calder “I ate a big piece of HUMBLE PIE.” These tournaments were a good wake up call for me to remind me it takes continuous dedication to reach my true potential. These experiences of failure only fuel me to try harder and help me to learn from my mistakes. 
 
I took what I learnt from these tournaments and applied them to the camp and tournament in Rio, Brazil. I am starting to feel like my self on the mats again. I lost a very close match against Japan in the semi-final and ended up places 3rd in the tournament. This was my first time in Rio! I was very excited to go there and start to familiarize myself with the area. I did not get to go look at the Olympic village but our team leader went and said it is coming along and the wrestling venue is very close. In 2016 we will have a very good set up, this news only makes me more pumped for the next 2 years.
 
Getting to Rio was a little bit of an adventure.  Our flight from Huston to Rio got cancelled and we had to send a day in Huston, with no luggage; which means no change of cloths. Once we finally got to Rio 28 hours later we went directly to wrestling practice. During practice my phone got stolen; my brand new phone I bought 1 week ago.  It is a good thing I bought the insurance plan and will be able to get a replacement phone.

​I am so proud to tell all of you I won a Bronze Medal in 53kg Sr Women’s World Championships!
 
 
World Championships were in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; which is in part of the world I never thought I would ever want to visit. Tashkent was pleasantly surprising. It was over 20 hours of travel time to get from St. Catharine’s to Tashkent with a 9-hour time change. With such an extreme travel time Team Canada wanted the athletes to get into Tashkent a few days early to help calamities and train as a team. I had prepared for the worst-case scenario because we didn’t have much information about the hotel and food quality before we arrived.  I brought enough food to last me for the 10 days I was there.  This means my food bag was 16kgs. In the end the food in Tashkent was safe and I did not need all my food. The weather was great and the team took ever opportunity to relax by to pool.  Sadly I am not any darker after basking in the sun for 10 days.
 
I can not descried the feel I had when I won my Bronze medal final but what I can tell you is, I knew in my heart I was going to win a medal that day. From the moment I woke up I had a smile on my face and was ready to fight for every point. I focused on one match at a time and before I knew it I was in the semi finals against Saori Yoshida from Japan who is a 3-time Olympic Champ. I lost by fall against Japan and came back on the B-side to wrestle for bronze. It was exciting to be apart of the finals; with the spotlight on you, the stands filled with people who love the sport as much as I do and the energy in the venue was surreal. The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster and it was ALL WORTH IT. My coaches and support staff always say when I start to go crazy I am ready to compete.   Well I can tell you I have never felt more emotionally out of control then I had leading up to this event, ha. It is time for some TLC and to ride the high for a little while.
 
I am on my way back to Saskatoon for a week of down time before I go back to St. Catharine’s.   Getting on a plain less then 12 hours after I wrestled does not feel good on the body.