By KIM SKORNOGOSKI
Tribune Staff Writer
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Shy of 6 feet tall, Jon Redlin is not a small man.
Still, his arms could barely wrap around Rulon Gardner’s 58-inch chest as Redlin held on for dear life while the Olympic Greco Roman wrestler whipped him around like they were at a sock hop.
“With my arms positioned like this, “Gardner said of his fierce bear hug. “I can do anything I want to him. I can sling him around my hip, or I can flip him over my shoulder.”
Redlin’s legs dangled feet off the ground as Gardner demonstrated his best moves Saturday to the crowd at the Montana Farmers Union Convention held at the Heritage Inn.
Gardner first captured the country’s eye when he beat a Russian wrestler who had been undefeated in 13 years, winning the gold medal at Sydney’s Olympics.
He again became an Olympic hero when he returned to capture the bronze in 2004, having nearly frozen to death in the Wyoming wilderness two years earlier.
Gardner told the crowd that it was the work ethic he learned on his family’s Wyoming dairy farm that gave him the determination to win his medals and survive 18 hours in subzero temperatures.
“No matter what work had to be done, I did it to the best of my ability, “he said. “When it came to shoveling cow manure, I was the best one at it because I did it to the best of my ability.
“My goal as an athlete wasn’t to win a gold medal ” it was to do my best.”
Gardner was the youngest of nine children and consequently was given the jobs none of his brothers and sisters wanted.
Because of a learning disability, he struggled in school and was placed in special education classes for a time. Counselors told him he’d never be able to attend and graduate college.
His older brothers tortured him daily.
It wasn’t until his senior year that he made the varsity wrestling team.
In the face of his naysayers, Gardner went to college, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska.
“Their negativity was actually a flame that made me believe in myself, “he said. “I said, ‘you know what, I’m going to prove you wrong.'”
In the four years training for the Sydney Olympics, he practiced for hours straight. When partners dropped out or didn’t want to face him on the practice mat, he would take on challengers of all weight classes at once, with them rotating out every minute.
He studied tapes of potential opponents, seeking out their weaknesses and then building his strengths to counter them.
“My goal was to make my opponents cry, “he said. “Then when I did, I’d say ‘Come on, buddy’ and then I’d make them cry again.”
The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Gardner handily won his early rounds in Sydney before facing the undefeated Aleksandr Karelin ” a 6-foot-4 300-pounder who had won gold in three previous Olympics and who had not been beaten in 13 years.
Down by two points, Gardner said he was reminded of the daily affirmations and the drive his family instilled in him growing up.
“I actually believe he’s the best ever, “he said. “Did I think he could be beaten that day? Yes. If I walked out there, believing in myself, I knew I could beat him.”
Gardner said he sensed one moment when Karelin wasn’t giving his all, and he turned it to his advantage, coming from behind to beat him.
When he won the gold, he did a cartwheel ” proving again to his critics that he was agile and athletic.
Two years later, he was snowmobiling and got separated from his friends. His sled broke through ice in a river and Gardner was soaked.
That night he shivered under a tree, while temperatures dropped to 25 degrees below zero. When a helicopter finally spotted and rescued him 18 hours later, his body temperature was 80 degrees.
Doctors said his feet were frozen and would need to be removed, preventing him from walking again. But he pleaded for a chance to recover.
Within eight months, Gardner was back on the wrestling team, having learned to walk after four skin grafts and loosing a toe.
He returned to the Olympics and won a bronze in Athens, leaving his shoes behind as he walked off the mat.
As he told his story, Gardner shared several mottos that drive him: Turn a negative into a positive. Train hard every day. Aim high when feeling low. Don’t rest on your laurels.
For now Gardner is touring the country speaking to schools and groups about his successes. He also is willing to show off how he beat the Russian in what has become known as “The Miracle on the Mat, “using unsuspecting volunteers like Redlin.
Redlin, who farms near Lambert, said he happily volunteered, not knowing what he was in for but having been given the assurance that it wasn’t public speaking.
Gardner is even bigger up close, Redlin said, describing how difficult it was to circle his arms around Gardner’s chest in a wrestling hold.
“He’s a very powerful guy, “Redlin said. “No one put any bets on me, that’s for sure.”
Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kim Skornogoski at 791-6574, (800) 438-6600 or [email protected].
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