Justin Abdou is one of Simon Fraser University’s most successful wrestlers. Competing at 80 kilograms, Abdou was a nine-time Canadian senior champion and won a gold medal for Canada at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

He won two silver medals and two bronze at Pan American Games and represented his country at the Sydney Olympics. During his university career, Abdou won four consecutive NAIA national championship titles, only the second SFU wrestler and fifth on the continent to do so. Abdou finished his collegiate career with a record 204 wins, 24 losses and two draws.

Abdou was a member of Canada’s national wrestling team for 13 years before retiring in 2001. He was inducted into the SFU athletic hall of fame in 2016 and is also a member of the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame and the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Hall of Fame. 

He has since gone on to coach Canadian teams at four World Cup of Wrestling championships, four University World Championships, the World Junior and World Championships and assisted with the 2008 Canadian Olympic wrestling team. Abdou has been the head coach of SFU’s women’s wrestling team since 2002 winning national titles in 2009 and 2010 and has also at times did double duty as the school’s men’s wrestling coach.