Olympic Greatness

I recently attended the annual National Character and Leadership Symposium hosted by the Air Force Academy. This year's theme was "Courage in the Face of Adversity". One of the featured speakers was a man who, I believe, achieved one of the greatest accomplishments in sports in the last 20 years (perhaps only slightly behind Lance Armstrong's SEVEN Tour wins). This man is none other than Rulon Gardner -- 2000 Sydney Olympics Gold medalist. But Mr. Gardner did not simply win Olympic gold. He won Olympic gold in the sport of Greco-Roman wrestling (style of wrestling where one is not allowed to attack his opponent's legs; throws only). But not only was he a gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, he achieved this feat by defeating one of the most (if not the most) formidable opponents in the history of the sport: Russian Alexandre Karelin http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/0911/oly_karelin.html

Me with Mr. Gardner:

Here I am attempting to wrap up Mr. Gardner (I could bearly lock my two longest fingers with my arms around his 58" chest!) :

You can read all about Rulon Gardner as well as watch a highlight video of his "Miracle on the Mat" Gold medal win against Kerelin: http://www.rulongardner.com/index.html