Ali Hussaini cannot recall when he first started wrestling. “I was young!” the 28-year-old exclaims. But for as long as Hussaini can remember, he has wanted to compete on the world stage. “I have always been motivated to one day become a wrestling world champion and go to the Olympics,” he says.
Hussaini is a multiple-time Australian wrestling champion, winning his most recent title last May in the men’s 57kg freestyle category. A bricklayer by trade, Hussaini rises early at his home in western Sydney to spend the day on sweltering construction sites. But despite the physically-gruelling nature of his day job, evening after evening Hussaini can be found at a local gym – training himself and coaching others in the finer points of freestyle wrestling.
