By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY
In Rulon Gardner’s view, these shoes were made for hawking. So one pair of size 13 Asics wrestling shoes, which Gardner left at center mat in Athens to signal his retirement after winning a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics, goes up for auction beginning Monday on eBay.
Gardner’s removal of his shoes after his last match was a ceremonial gesture, common in international wrestling, but he retrieved them and brought them home.
He’s says he’ll donate half the auction proceeds to USA Wrestling to benefit future Olympics wrestling heavyweights, but he also views the shoe sale as a way to promote his book, Never Stop Pushing, to be released Sept. 6 (the same day the auction ends).
“This way, somebody can have the keepsake or whatever, but then also it helps out wrestling and hopefully bring a little more awareness to the book coming out, “says Gardner, 34, who will sign a personalized autograph on the shoes.
He isn’t contemplating a similar sale of the shoes he wore in the 2000 Olympics when he won Greco-Roman wrestling gold by upsetting Russia’s previously unbeaten and three-time Olympic champ, Alexander Karelin.
“Those shoes from Sydney I’ll never give up, “he says.
On the way to his bronze in 2004, Gardner had to overcome the loss of a toe from frostbite after being stranded on a snowmobile trip. He also dislocated his wrist in a pickup basketball game just before the 2004 U.S. nationals.
He says he hopes his book can help inspire kids on the value of “never quitting on themselves.”
This spring, Gardner was miffed that because of his retirement a one-year contract he had signed with the United States Olympic Committee had been terminated. He said it wasn’t due to expire until July and that it would have provided him with health insurance and a $2,000 grant. What price his shoes command remains to be seen, but he will keep half the proceeds.
“I guess now I’m going to make up for my insurance or the grant money, “he says.
— Notes
I’ll get more information on this when it becomes available to me. Currently, I don’t see any shoes on ebay.
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