Rulon Gardner
Encyclopedia : R : RU : RUL : Rulon Gardner
| ||
| Gold medal | 2000 Sydney | Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman (130 kg) |
| Bronze medal | 2004 Athens | Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman (120 kg) |
Rulon Gardner (born August 16, 1971 in Afton, Wyoming) is an amateur wrestler in the Greco-Roman discipline from the United States. His strength is often attributed to the physical labor on the dairy farm he grew up on. He graduated from the University of Nebraska. He has worked as a middle school teacher and motivational speaker.
High School Years
Gardner attended Star Valley High School in Afton, Wyoming, and was a three-sport letterwinner and standout in football, wrestling, and track&field. He was an All-State selection in both, football and wrestling and was also the 1989 wrestling state heavyweight champion. In track&field, he took second at the state finals in the shotput as a senior.Junior College Years
Gardner attended Ricks College for two years and as a sophomore, he was the NJCAA national heavyweight wrestling champion.Wrestling career
Gardner is perhaps most well known for his defeat of Alexander Karelin in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Karelin had been undefeated for thirteen years, and had not given up a point in six years, prior to his loss in the gold medal match to Gardner.After the 2000 Olympics he suffered a series of injuries, including an amputated toe and a dislocated wrist. He was also in a motorcycle accident. Despite his injuries, he won the U.S. Olympic trials for his weight class and competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he was unable to repeat his 2000 performance, although he did win a bronze medal. After the bronze medal match, he left his shoes on the mat as a traditional symbol of retirement.
Gardner has since begun competing in mixed martial arts and in 2005 he became the host for a professional wrestling league called Real Pro Wrestling.
Aside from his Olympic medals, his achievements include:
- U.S. Champion in 1995, 1997, and 2001
- James E. Sullivan Award for amateur athlete of the year, 2001
- Gold medal, World Wrestling Championships, 2001
- Jesse Owens Award, 2001
- United States Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year, 2001
- ESPY award for U.S. Male Olympic athlete of the year, 2001
- Pan American Games champion, 1998
- World Cup Champion, 1996
MMA record
1 win (1 decision), 0 losses, 0 draw.|- |12/31/2004 |Win |Hidehiko Yoshida |PRIDE Shockwave 2004 |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3, 5:00
External links
- [Official Website]
- [Rulon Gardner's U.S. Olympic Team bio], featuring a typical day at the Training Center
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.