With the Summer Olympics about to begin on the 13th, I thought it time for a little vignette of another inspirational athlete. A simple dairy farmer from Afton, Wyoming who was responsible for one of the greatest upsets in Olympic wrestling history. At the 2000 Summer games, a contest took place that came to be known as “The Miracle on the Mat.” Here is a little about the miracle worker and his journey to the 2004 games.
No easy ride
It was quite the bumpy road, but Rulon Gardner finally made it back to the Olympics. After shocking the world at the 2000 Games with an upset of three-time gold medalist Aleksandr Karelin of Russia, Gardner promptly won the 2001 World Championship. Since then the Greco-Roman heavyweight overcame an amputated toe, a motorcycle accident and a dislocated wrist to earn his spot on the American team. In May, Gardner defeated rival and training partner Dremiel Byers, the 2002 world champion, at the U.S. Trials, thus earning a chance to defend his Olympic title.
"Miracle on the Mat"
Gardner's victory over Karelin in 2000 simply goes down as the biggest upset in wrestling history. Somehow, the Wyoming native wore down a man universally regarded as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time. The match, which became dubbed "Miracle on the Mat", featured a first-time Olympian against a man who had never lost a match in international competition. Karelin won three Olympic gold medals, nine world championships and 12 European titles while compiling a 63-0 record, and had not even been scored upon in 10 years. But Gardner scored from a clinch in the second period and held on through overtime to cap the unthinkable.
Flying high
The key to Gardner's victory was his ability to stifle Karelin's favorite move -- a reverse-body lift, something so dramatic and painful that some opponents allowed themselves to be pinned rather than suffer the wrath of the lift. Karelin couldn't execute the lift against Gardner, unlike the first time they faced each other. Gardner's major international debut came at the 1997 Worlds, where he met Karelin in the semifinals. The Russian used his trademark lift three times in defeating Gardner 5-0, prompting the affable American to say, "I had never flown before so I thought it was pretty cool."
Accident prone I
Gardner's Sydney triumph earned him instant fame in the U.S., and close chronicles of his time in the years since. The scariest moment came in February 2002, when his snowmobile dropped into a hidden lake in the Wyoming backcountry. Stranded for 17 hours and soaked while temperatures dropped to minus-25 degrees, Gardner figured his career might be done. He needed the middle toe on his right foot amputated because of frostbite, forcing him to overcome balance problems once he returned to wrestling. But he did so in time to qualify for the 2003 World Championships, where he placed 10th.
Accident prone II
If that wasn't enough, Gardner proceeded to be tossed off his motorcycle -- without a helmet -- after hitting a car that pulled in front of him in March 2004. He walked away with only cuts and bruises, and credited wrestling for the front dive roll he executed to avoid injury. Then, three days later, Gardner dislocated his right wrist playing a pickup basketball game at the Olympic Training Center. That injury hindered him a week later, when he lost in final of the U.S. Nationals to Byers, giving up the crucial No. 1 seed for the U.S. Olympic Trials. But Gardner fought through the preliminary matches at Trials to reach the final, where Byers awaited. Tired and still bothered by his wrist, Gardner won the first two matches in the best-of-three series for an Olympic berth.
Twenty-two seconds late
At the 1996 Olympic Trials, Gardner, seeded No. 3, was nursing a staph infection in his leg the day of the weigh-in. Under the impression that the weigh-in was from 5-6 p.m., he was in his hotel room with his leg elevated at 5:25 p.m. when he decided to get ready to weigh in. But the weigh-in ended at 5:30. A USA Wrestling official called his hotel room to tell him he had 2½ minutes to be present. Gardner arrived 22 seconds late and could not compete. However, he says he was not overly distraught because doctors told him he risked serious injury if he competed.
Dairy Farm
Regarded as one of the best-conditioned heavyweights, Gardner built up his stamina at an early age. The youngest of nine children, Gardner grew up on a dairy farm in Afton, Wyoming. During the summer he would wake up at 6:30 a.m., take in the 60 cows, change 12 lines of irrigation pipes, spray weeds all day, change the irrigation pipes again, haul hay and milk the cows. Sometimes he finished after midnight.
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Have a great week guys. You are all champions in my book.
In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Brock Lesnar, Former WWE Champion(youngest ever) promptly quit WWE to become a NFL football player. After training with 4 teams and having all the critics tell him he has about a 10% chance of getting signed due to the fact he hasnt played ball but one year in highschool, he gets signed to the Minnesota Vikings. Just shows if your deternmined ANYTHING can be accomplished.
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\"Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless.\"
Last night my wife son and I went to Folklarama, A local celebration of cutures all around the world. We went to the Japanese pavillion and wanted to see the drummers and martial arts demos. So as we are walking around the pavillion, we see an origami display. It said $.25 to buy one. So as we are watching this boy make some, my son (5 years old) points to the boy and says "look at his hands". The boy doing the origami must have been burnt in a fire or something. His fingers were all melded as one from skin grafts, and he was using his thumb and fingers to do some folding along with a special tool to help. It was warm out and he was wearing a long sleeve turtle neck and hat, I guess to cover up his burns and protect from the sun. We ended up buying one and when we got home my son wanted to read his book on safety. We got to the section on burns, and we got talking about that boy. He asked when his fingers would come apart, and told him that they wouldn't, and he felt bad and started to cry. Well it got me to thinking about me worrying about having a little roll and etc. I have nothing to worry about compared to some people that have had things happen to them. So with reading all your motivations and seeing things like this, I am going to strive to be in the best shape that I can, but I will not go on about how bad I "think" I have it anymore.
Great stuff as always mahler, I remember this story fairly well. What a story it is, and about brock lesnar, he walked away from a 46 million dollar contract with the WWE. I don't know if the NFL is worth that.LOL, but if its your dream, I say go for it.
JJ
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Your accomplishments can only be as big as your heart.
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