Jillian Gallays
{{short description|Canadian freestyle wrestler}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| headercolor =
| name = Jillian Gallays
| image =
| caption =
| country = {{CAN}}
| sport = Wrestling
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|10|20}}
| birth_place = St. Brieux, Saskatchewan
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height = 165 cm
| weight = 53 kg
| coach = Shane Bradley
| pb =
| website =
| worldcup =
|medaltemplates={{MedalSport | Women's Wrestling}}
{{MedalCountry|{{CAN}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}
{{MedalBronze|2014 Tashkent|53 kg}}
}}
Jillian Alice Gallays (born October 20, 1986) is a Canadian retired freestyle wrestler.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ga/jillian-gallays-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418094139/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ga/jillian-gallays-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18|title=Jillian Gallays Bio, Stats, and Results|website=Olympics at Sports-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://olympic.ca/team-canada/jillian-gallays/|title=Jillian Gallays|date=2016-06-22|website=Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website|language=en|access-date=2019-01-21}} She won the bronze medal at the 53kg event at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships,{{Cite web|url=http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/13441|title=Women's freestyle World medalists|website=InterMat|access-date=2019-01-21|archive-date=2018-09-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913040042/http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/13441|url-status=dead}} and is a 2016 Olympian.
Early life and education
Gallays was born in St. Brieux, Saskatchewan. She was diagnosed as having dyslexia at a young age. She was raised by a single mother. She attended the University of Saskatchewan where she obtained a degree in Kinesiology and competed on the Saskatchewan Huskies wrestling team, on which she was the captain. She was a two-time CIS National Champion at U of S.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jilliangallays.com/about.html|title=About Jillian Gallays|website=jilliangallays.com|access-date=2020-06-24}}
Career
She is a six-time Canadian National Champion. In 2014, competed at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships in the 53-Kilogram division, winning her first round match against Nadzeya Shushko of Belarus by technical fall, her round of 16 match against Lee Shin-hye of South Korea by fall, and her quarterfinal match against Yuliya Blahinya of Ukraine before losing her semifinal match to eventual winner, Saori Yoshida of Japan. Qualifying for the repechage, she won her bronze medal match by defeating Natalia Malysheva of Russia.
In July 2016, she was officially named to Canada's 2016 Olympic team.{{cite news|last=Gillespie|first=Kerry|date=23 June 2016|title=Canadian wrestlers keep getting up off the mat|url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/amateur/2016/06/24/canadian-wrestlers-keep-getting-up-off-the-mat.html|publisher=Toronto Star|location=Toronto, Canada|accessdate=25 June 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://wrestling.ca/canadian-wrestling-team-nominated-rio-2016/3887|title=Canadian Wrestling Team Nominated for Rio 2016|last=|first=|date=22 June 2016|website=www.wrestling.ca|publisher=Wrestling Canada|accessdate=16 July 2016}} She lost her first round match to Jong Myong-suk of North Korea. She placed 19th in the women's featherweight freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She retired from wrestling after the 2016 Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://community.brainsport.ca/olympic-wrestler-brings-high-performance-attitude-to-brainsport/|title=Olympic wrestler brings high-performance attitude to Brainsport|date=June 11, 2024|website=community.brainsport.ca|access-date=2025-05-04}}
Post-career
After retiring from wrestling, Gallays began working as a strenth and conditioning coach at Craven SPORT Services. In 2024, she left Craven and opened her own strength and conditioning centre and began a part-time job selling running shoes for the company Brainsport. Also in 2024, she enrolled in a Master of Management Analytics program at the Smith School of Business.{{cite web|url=https://www.csc-sask.ca/from-the-olympic-stage-to-life-after/|title=From the Olympic stage, to life after|date=November 8, 2024|website=www.csc-sask.ca|access-date=2025-05-04}}
Personal life
Gallays currently resides in St. Catharines, Ontario, having moved there from Saskatoon in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.therecord.com/sports/2014/11/06/canadian-jillian-gallays-pursues-olympic-wrestling-dream.html|title=Canadian Jillian Gallays pursues Olympic wrestling dream|website=therecord.com|date=6 November 2014 |access-date=2020-06-24}} Her nickname is "Jilla Killa".
References
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External links
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallays, Jillian}}
Category:Sportspeople from Saskatchewan
Category:Sportspeople from St. Catharines
Category:Canadian female sport wrestlers
Category:World Wrestling Championships medalists
Category:Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic wrestlers for Canada
Category:Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in wrestling
Category:21st-century Canadian sportswomen
Category:Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Category:Sportspeople with dyslexia
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