Rulon Gardner named W.I.N. Magazine’s Impact Award winner
1/11/2005
Mike Finn/W.I.N. Editor
Two-time Olympic medalist left more than retiring shoes on the mat when Gardner said goodbye
What could Rulon Gardner, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist and “giant” killer do for an encore four years later?
How about thrusting the sport into the national spotlight again in 2004?
For his contributions to the sport, Wrestling International Newsmagazine has named Gardner its Impact Award Winner for 2004 after the Greco-Roman heavyweight won the bronze medal in Athens this past August and then officially retired.
For it was the way that the native of Afton, Wyoming, said goodbye to the sport when, after his final Olympic match, he simply sat down and took a few moments to remove his shoes, which remained on the mat while he walked off in tears after the symbolic act.
“Winning the gold medal (in 2000, when he upset 13-time world/Olympic champion Alexander Karelin in Sydney, Australia) was the ultimate experience,” Gardner said. “But to walk off the mat and have people around the world, and not just in wrestling, see what the sport of wrestling means to me and every other wrestler was special.”
“Wrestling will miss him,” said W.I.N. Publisher Bryan Van Kley. “But it seems like the time was right for his retirement and he was able to do it his way. I respect him immensely and am proud to name Rulon our 2004 Impact of the Year Award winner.
“Rulon Gardner has transcended the sport of wrestling in a way only a few wrestlers in the history of the sport ever have. After his upset of Karelin in Sydney, he became a national sports hero and has handled that publicity and pressure extremely well. Not everyone does. He’s been very gracious with the non-wrestling as well as wrestling media. Simply put, Rulon has brought more exposure to the sport of wrestling in the past five years than any other person.”
That was evident when the images of his retirement was plastered all over the world in nearly every media outlet, including Time magazine, which listed Gardner’s goodbye among its top photographic moments of 2004.
“That is huge,” admitted Gardner, who also won the 2001 world championship. “(The photo) represents everything that our sport is to everyone, especially to those athletes who gave all their time and their effort all those years of training. It comes to show that hard work, integrity and passion for the sport is worth all the effort.”
What made Gardner’s repeat Olympic medal ““”the first time in United States Greco-Roman history ““”even more impressive is that the former Nebraska All-American had to overcome both personal health problems and second-guessing by journalists.
The health issues, which kept him from the sport in 2002 when severe frostbite led to the amputation of a toe after a snowmobile accident, returned last year after he decided to make another run at an Olympic spot. But in the process of returning to competition, he was injured in a motorcycle accident.
Gardner was never 100 percent healthy in 2004, especially in April when he was defeated by 2002 world champion Dremiel Byers in the finals of the U.S. Open. That loss, and in his opinion, a lack of respect by the media ““”including W.I.N. ““”after his 3-1 loss to Byers in Las Vegas provided plenty of fire inside himself before he entered the Olympic Trials last May.
“To lose at nationals was a big deal but I felt the (April 27, 2004 W.I.N.) article was calling me out like I was a bone-head athlete,” Gardner admitted. “When you have two athletes who have given their best every day in practice, then to lose at nationals and have other people slam your dreams at this level is a harsh thing.
“That was probably one of the big motivating factors for me. I don’t like to dwell on the negativity but I allowed that to drive me for the future; to go out and prove everyone wrong.”
He did that at the Trials in Indianapolis, where he first won the mini-tournament before winning two straight matches against Byers, which earned him another spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
While in Athens, he once again caught the media’s eye, from throwing around NBC’s Katie Couric while showing the TV hostess a few wrestling moves to leaving his Asics at center mat following his bronze-medal match.
Did Gardner ever imagine that he would make such an impact both inside and outside the sport?
“No, that’s not why an athlete does a sport, to make an impact, especially in wrestling,” said Gardner. “We do this sport because we love it and have a passion for it.”
The 33-year-old Gardner, now competing in the Pride Fighting Championships, literally ended 2004 in competition but in a different venue; a mixed martial arts match with former Olympic judo champion Hidehiko Yoshida, in Tokyo, Japan, on New Year’s Eve.
But don’t expect Gardner to turn his back on the sport that made him a household name.
“I don’t want to be known as a fighter. I want to be known as a wrestler,” said Gardner, who also gives motivational talks around the country and served as an announcer for Real Pro Wrestling’s television series, which begins in February.
Gardner also wants to be remembered as one who overcame numerous shortcomings en route to capturing more than world or Olympic championships.
“Hopefully I will be remembered as an athlete who gave 100 percent, who didn’t have all the ability in the world, who didn’t have all the years and years of technique that all the Russians did, who came out and used his heart and desire to become successful,” he said.
“That he had a desire to win and to do his best.”
PAST W.I.N. IMPACT AWARD WINNERS
1995 – Dennis Hastert and Dale Anderson
1996 – Dave and Nancy Schultz
1997 – Leo Kocher and Dan Gable
1998 – Mike and Beverly Chapman
2000 – Eric LeSher
2001 – Lou Goldstein
2002 – Eric Pearson and Larry Joseph
2003 – Toby Willis and Matt Case
2004 – Rulon Gardner
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