SOMETIMES -- in a sports era of agents, holdouts, lockouts, and strikes -- we forget the lengths truly dedicated athletes go for an opportunity to compete. Shut out of the Commonwealth wrestling championships in London two weeks ago by the Canadian government's refusal to issue visas, Pakistan's burly Muhammad brothers -- Umar, 28, Usman, 26, and Ali, 24 -- clung to a faint hope they would still be allowed to wrestle in Canada, testing their skills against top international competition.
Little more than a day before last weekend's Canada Cup in Guelph, the Muhammads were given the green light, kick-starting a mad global dash to beat the clock and hit the mat here.
"I had been to Canada twice before to wrestle and had never had trouble," Umar said, recounting the brothers' travel tale Friday morning from their room at London's Residence Inn by Marriott. "We were allowed to go at 11:59 p.m. and got plane tickets and a flight in about two, three hours after that.
"It was a 30-hour trip (with connecting stops in Abu Dhabi and London, England) and we don't sleep well on planes.
"It was terrible."
Last week, Londoner Josip Mrkoci, Commonwealth Amateur Wrestling Association president and a great friend of Canadian grappling, drove to Pearson Airport in Toronto to pick up the brothers. He expected them at midnight, but they didn't get out of immigration until 2:30 a.m.
The bleary-eyed Muhammads arrived in Guelph at 4 a.m., grabbed three hours of sleep, attended a special weigh-in at 7:30 a.m. and started wrestling at 9 a.m.
Remarkably, all three brothers won their opening matches. But jet lag, lack of sleep and formidable competition finally caught up with them in the afternoon.
"You could see they were almost falling asleep on the mat," Mrkoci said.
"We tried; it is always hard to win medals, though," Umar said. "We were disappointed we were unable to attend the Commonwealth championships. We knew we would at least take a couple of gold medals from the Indian wrestlers (who dominated all seven men's weight classes in London)."
That's no idle boast from the Pakistanis, who have been training in London for the past few days as guests of the London-Western wrestling club and have stayed at a room donated by the Residence Inn.
Umar, who now competes in the 96-kilogram class, wrestled in the 1994 Commonwealth Games at Victoria. Usman participated in last year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, at 84 kilograms.
Ali, who wrestles at 74 kilograms, could end up being the best of the Muhammad bunch. He expects to qualify for the world freestyle championships in September in New York and once hung tough with former Canadian Olympic champion Daniel Igali.
"I lost 4-1; he is good, a very good wrestler," Ali said, grinning.
Wrestling is both a way of life and a job for the Muhammads, who hail from Gujranwla -- called the "city of wrestlers" -- in the grapple-happy Punjab province. Umar, Usman and Ali are just three of six brothers, all of whom have wrestled. The sport has been a family tradition for over a century.
Back home, the brothers draw income (about $20,000 Cdn a year) from wrestling in tournaments fought in sand rings at stadiums that sometimes draw 10,000 to 20,000 spectators.
"It is the traditional style; we go on the mats for a few weeks before an international event," Umar said. "We have some good facilities in Pakistan, but we would love to come back to Canada again for a few months to train."
Also last week in Guelph, Igali recovered from neck surgery to defeat India's Sujit Maan, who won gold in London at the Commonwealth championships.
London's Andrea Ross and Western's Terri McNutt finished fifth and sixth respectively at 51 kilograms while Londoner Katie Patroch, the top female wrestler in the Commonwealth championships at Western Fair, placed sixth at 59 kilograms.
