John Fuller/USA Wrestling
In looking for its 2004 Man of the Year award recipient, Amateur Wrestling News could have easily gone with one of 10 NCAA champions from last year, or one of the 17 Olympians that represented the United States in Athens, Greece last summer. Four of those were women, who were competing in wrestling at the Olympics for the first time.
But in looking at the big picture, Amateur Wrestling News selected a man that has played a key role in the success of all of those individuals “Gary Abbott, the Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling, the national governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling.
In winning the award, Abbott becomes only the fifth recipient in its 42-year history to not be actively competing or coaching at the time he was named Man of the Year.
Abbott now joins a Man of the Year list that includes wrestling greats Harold Nichols, Dan Gable, Jeff Blatnick, Bruce Baumgartner, John Smith, Rulon Gardner and Cael Sanderson among others.
“This is a great honor for a very deserving individual. Gary Abbott is amongst the most dedicated and hardest working people in the sport. This prestigious award is a fitting tribute to someone who has dedicated his life to improving the sport of amateur wrestling, “USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender stated.
“Winning the Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year is both humbling and rewarding. I have been involved in wrestling for 32 years, going back to when I started in junior high school. This award reminds me of all of the great experiences I have had with this sport, and just how lucky I am to have a chance to remain in wrestling with my career, “Abbott said.
Abbott, a former college wrestler at Boston University, has always felt that the sport of amateur wrestling needed more coverage in the national media.
“Working for USA Wrestling has been a dream job for me. I was able to combine my two passions with journalism and wrestling. I hope that I have been able to make a difference for other wrestlers and for our sport, “Abbott added.
Abbott has worked five Olympic Games, including the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece, as a U.S. Olympic Committee Press Officer.
Before and during the 2004 Games, Abbott was responsible for the oversight of all communications duties as they related to USA Wrestling and the athletes vying for spots on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams.
At the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind., Abbott was responsible for bringing in a record media turnout that included 45 daily newspapers and numerous NBC affiliates from across the country. In terms of national media coverage, it was the most successful Olympic Trials in USA Wrestling history.
Following the Olympic Trials, Abbott accompanied the first-ever U.S. Women’s Freestyle Olympic Wrestling Team to a training camp in New York City, garnering national media interest for duration of the camp. National media that covered this training camp included Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN’s SportsCenter and CNN.
During the 2004 Olympic Games, Abbott helped to organize and coordinate the most successful pre-Olympic press conferences. The press conferences, one being held for each U.S. team competing, gathered more media than any other sport.
Also during the Olympic Games, Rulon Gardner officially retired by leaving his shoes on the mat in an emotional ceremony. Abbott was able to bring over 20 national media outlets as well as 50 other daily newspapers to the arena that evening to witness the retirement ceremony.
Gardner’s retirement garnered more media attention than any other individual event during the 2004 Olympic Games, due in part to the efforts of Abbott.
“For me, watching the women compete for the first time on an Olympic mat was a positive, emotional experience. It showed just how far women’s wrestling has progressed and our athletes made us very proud. The retirement ceremony by Rulon Gardner made a major impact on everybody. Rulon has captured the imagination of the general public and the international media like no other U.S. wrestler ever. Cael Sanderson wrestled the best I have ever seen him compete, showing why he will be remembered forever as one of our greatest heroes. I had the opportunity to work with a great team of coaches and athletes, and enjoyed the experience,” Abbott said.
With Abbott’s help, it was also announced in 2004 that Binghamton Univ., a Division I institution in his home state of New York, would re-instate its wrestling program. Abbott helped to gather support from the entire wrestling community as well as communicated fundraising efforts to bring the Binghamton program back.
Abbott has also been very active on the awareness of Title IX, speaking at a seminar for the El Pomar Foundation in 2004 on the subject. He also attended the 2004 NCAA Convention to be involved in a meeting specifically concerning the preservation of Olympic sports at the collegiate level.
Abbott is extremely proud of what 2004 accomplished for the sport of amateur wrestling as a whole.
“Really, this year was a continuation of a career here working to expand coverage of wrestling in the media, provide professional media services, communicate wrestling information to USA Wrestling’s membership and serve the sport,” Abbott said.
Abbott joined USA Wrestling in May, 1988. Along with working five Olympic Games, he has also worked three Goodwill Games and seven World Championships, including the 2003 World Championships of freestyle wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York City for which he led the press operations.
He has served as the Editor of USA Wrestler, the official newspaper of USA Wrestling. In 2004, Abbott created a special magazine edition of USA Wrestler prior to the Olympic Games. This was the first time that USA Wrestler was not created on a newspaper format.
Abbott received the 1992 Bob Dellinger Awards as the wrestling writer of the year and has won the National Wrestling Media Association awards recognizing the nation’s top publicist and best publication. He was the W.I.N. Magazine Journalist of the Year in 2002.
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