Nora Daigle was born and raised in a small fishing Village in the French speaking part of New Brunswick, Canada in the 60’s… She was a little tomboy and developed an appreciation for martial arts at an early age, she was inspired by Chuck Norris!
Nora dabbled in Martial Arts during college, however, she didn’t start kickboxing until years later when she moved out on her own to the other side of the country. She started her career in architecture, (since her parents were not supportive of her first choice – policing). While architecture paid the bills, it wasn’t her calling. After attending a kickboxing card, she was so impressed with their physiques (she has a thing for 6 pack abs!) she decided to give it a try. Starting kickboxing at age 23, Nora was a little older than most but was passionate and dedicated.
Nora had a difficult time finding fights because there were not many women in the sport at that time. Years later she turned pro and started competing around 1994 or 1995 with bouts in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, as well as Montreal, Toronto and Moncton, and even in Chihuahua, Mexico.
At that time most female kickboxers had switched to boxing. Boxing suited Nora better as she was stronger with her hands than her kicks. Despite being extremely dedicated with a strong work ethic, she lacked the support required to further her career. Nora had to be her own promoter and even her own trainer most of the time. One of the highlights of Nora’s boxing career was fighting for the World title in Vegas, and while it was a close fight she did not get the decision. One of her bouts closest to her heart was the fight in Moncton, New Brunswick where her family and friends got to see their “Chuck Nora” in the ring.
Nora moved to various cities in Canada hoping for more coaching and promotional support for her boxing career. When she moved to Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, she was presented with the opportunity to apply for her dream job – the Parliamentary Protective Services (PPS), or the parliamentary police! Soon after she began her career with PPS, she retired from boxing. She volunteered as a boxing coach periodically until the COVID-19 pandemic. Nora was working that October day when a lone shooter entered Parliament and started shooting. The shooter ended up getting killed by the sergeant of Arms without injuring anyone inside Parliament.
Nora recently retired from PPS after a wonderful 20-year career at Parliament, with a standing ovation from all parliamentarians including the Prime Minster (a first!). Now that she’s retired, she has a lot of time to dedicate to her fitness. She works out, cycles, kayaks, plays pickleball, you name it, she loves it! She looks and feels pretty good for a senior!
From a very young age, Nora wanted to be a police officer or a professional athlete. She managed to have a rewarding career protecting elected officials, staff, and visitors to parliament, and experienced some highs and lows as one of the pioneering generations of female boxers. Now she struts her stuff in her brand-new Dream car, in her house on the lake somewhere in the United States.
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