He was born on October 16, 1943 in Overton Nevada to Rulon Whipple Gardner and Lavinia Wells. Most Olympic champions will tell you that self-belief is key to being the best in the world. Ironically, Gardner's bid for a third Olympic appearance fell short because he was five pounds from making weight during the U.S. trials in April 2012. Because Rulon Gardner isnt a quitter. With Bob Costas, Katie Couric, Rulon Gardner, Philip Hersh. Keep going. Gardner, now a 51-year-old, wants to compete again at the 2024 Summer Olympics. After the 2000 Olympics he suffered a series of injuries from both a snowmobiling and motorcycle accident. [Harper declined an interview request through a spokesperson.]. Gardner was also irritated by some of the sniping from fellow contestants. Bob Harper, a trainer on the show since Season 1, and the face of the program when it relaunched earlier in 2020, is among those whom Rulon thought he was getting close to. If anyone above her had made any sort of decision like that, she wouldnt be privy to it. He runs to Rad first and gives him a big hug. And that's wrong., He offers one last sobering thought on his size: I realize, in the next 10 years, if I dont change, I wont be here. He was an All-State selection in both football and wrestling, and was also the 1989 wrestling state heavyweight champion. Rulon Gardners income source is mostly from being a successful Wrestler. Its more of a one-on-two. That all changed when Gardner, the youngest of nine children in a Wyoming farming family, captured the first international title of his life by defeating Karelin 1-0 to win gold and make himself an overnight star in the U.S. in the process. Rulon stretches constantly, and likes to lean against railings to relieve the pressure. Gardner put out statements after the episode aired, too, saying hed achieved his goal and was ready to go home to his wife. But wrestling was the route Rulon decided to focus on. Rulon Gardner is crammed into the driver's seat of a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle. Castranuova says she thought Rulon would win the whole competition and was shocked when he left. His boss at the insurance company has even told him he can carve out time during the day to work out if thats what he needs. Everyone is focused, with the pressure of lifelong individual dreams, team titles and possibly college scholarships on the line. He has a torch from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, which he got to carry right before his snowmobile accident. He attributes his strength to the physical labor that he performed growing up and working on the family's dairy farm.[4]. In the second period, Traycee connects on a headlock and sends his opponent to his back. Rulon's weight has fluctuated again since then, but has most recently lost 30lbs (13kg), thanks to his new personal trainer and cutting refined sugars and processed food out from his diet. That was all it took to change Rulon Gardner's life, for better or worse one nine-minute wrestling match against a legendary Russian, and here he is, almost seven years later, still riding the wave of his Olympic triumph in Sydney. Wrestling comeback in Rulon's plans. Maybe not quite as busy as when he grew up on the farm, milking cows and carrying irrigation pipe from sunup to sundown. He is the youngest of nine children who were raised by Reed and Virginia Gardner on a dairy farm where there was plenty of work--from milking cows to feeding calves to chopping grain--to keep everyone in the large Mormon family busy. His coworker at JRI, Lydia Woltjen, jokes that shes sure to wear a seatbelt when Rulon is driving. is 6 2 and Weight 265lbs. He has two lawyer friends in particular whom he talks to about business decisions. Sports Illustrated is here! he tells him. The culprit: one of his own wrestlers. People think, Oh, Rulon Gardner is a fraud. Or, Rulon Gardner is not trustworthy. They dont realize that sometimes its not you, its other people around you., Gardners quest to win back his medal became fodder for the press, but coverage just looped it in with his well-known financial issues. He graduated from the University of NebraskaLincoln with a bachelor's degree in physical education. Rulon and Rad follow Talmage out to the mat. Rulon doesnt like wearing his badge on a lanyard that chokes his neck, so he tries to avoid it. Gardner was born on Aug. 16, 1971, in Afton, in western Wyomings Star Valley near the Idaho border. So can wrestling mats. Rulon gave him the medal as collateral, and they made a deal that hed hold onto Rulons prized possession until he could pay the debt. Others are still drinking the Kool-Aid, he says. When he was an active athlete, he never took a day off. Barry spent his spare time as a young boy in Overton where he loved to walk the beautiful hills and valleys. His wrestlers are also, more literally, taking a while to warm up. Consider those client recruitment days anyway, with Coach Rulon happily passing along his fliers to a steady stream of coaches, parents, tournament officials and others eager to chat him up between matches. Despite spending four months in a high-school wrestling environment where weight is an obsession and scales are plentiful, he says he avoided stepping on one the whole season. Subscribe to @olympics: http://oly.ch/Subscribe American wrestler Rulon Gardner shocks Russian wrestling Legend Aleksandr Karelin to win gold at Sydney 2. As a member of the 2000 US Olympic wrestling team, Rulon was pitted against Russian legend Alexander Karelin, in what can only be described as a David versus Goliath scenario. The American became an overnight sensation back home after the miracle on the mat, but soon found himself struggling with stardom, and battling to save his career after a life-threatening accident. Then they both win and advance. On a bitter cold night in February 2002, on mountain slopes above Star Valley, Gardner got separated from some snowmobiling friends and stranded his machine in deep snow. In 2002, Rulon faced a serious life-threatening situation. Rulon Gardner in 2003 AP A learning disability earned Gardner the nickname "Dumbo." The 125-pound fourth-grader was also called "Fatso." As a senior at Star Valley High School, he won a state. He's a legend in the sport. Gardner was the first contestant ever to . She says she has only positive things to say about her experience being on the show in general and working with Rulon in particular. For many high school wrestlers, this will be the pinnacle of their athletic careers, and the moment is treated with that gravity. Rod Zundel talks to Rulon about. Hell take five minutes with someone or an hour with someone if they want. [15] While at Nebraska, Gardner finished fourth in the 275lb. Gardner practices twice a day while being coached by Steve Fraser, who won America's first Greco-Roman gold, back in 1984. I surprised myself probably more than them.. In the morning they were able to flag down a passing fisherman who picked them up. He talks to the teammates wholl be there as spectators about letting that experience motivate them for next year. DETAILS BELOW Rulon Gardner (born August 16, 1971) is famous for being wrestler. "When you have a goal like wrestling it makes you get into shape, so I've lost a . But so many people in so many hundreds of matches have thought that, then they go out and he basically crushes them.". View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. I found it to be really awesome that he was so down to put his trust in a female thats a quarter of his size and let me teach him boxing form, and that he took me seriously.. Rulon says its a shamethey used to have two pictures of him hanging on the wall. He certainly could have died in 2002 when he got lost on his snowmobile and spent the night almost freezing to death in the Wyoming wild. He paid her $24K for the first six months, then $36K for the next three, about a quarter million total. Back down from the podium, Herrimans state champions pose in every combination for their own photos, iPhone camera rolls filling up with teammates, parents, siblings and coaches in various groupings. Karelin was previously unbeaten for 13 years in international competition. As they play the national anthem, Rulon stands in the athlete warmup area, along with other coaches who have kids in the finals. Under the category of. In a normal year, not interrupted by a pandemic, the high school wrestling season runs November to February. "I was razzed the whole way home," Gardner told the Elko (Nev.) Daily Free Press after conducting a wrestling clinic for kids in December 2012. To see him put his head down and feel loss [I felt] happiness, but also sorrow, Rulon says. FORMER OLYMPIC star Rulon Gardner opened up over hitting rock-bottom that included spiralling debts of 3million. Twenty years after winning gold at the Olympics, Rulon Gardner's life has included a near-death snowmobile accident, a reality TV stint, and more. Rulon Gardner has lost 150 pounds and is targeting a comeback Credit: INSTAGRAM. He was afraid that he would lose both of his feet, but fortunately, he only lost his right toe to amputation. The office sits in a strip of brick storefronts, and the front door opens to a wall of pristine, snowcapped mountains. Gardner embarked on his latest career two years ago in suburban Utah. The men swam an hour in 44F (7C) water to reach shore, and then spent the night without shelter. There are two lightweights and two heavyweights, making for convenient practice partners. Thats the experienceand the last time most people have seen him on the public stagehe says is most misunderstood. Gardner says the whole front of his mouth is veneer anyway, a result of decades of inadvertent headbutts. In 2005, Gardner published his autobiography (co-written by Bob Schaller), Never Stop Pushing: My Life from a Wyoming Farm to the Olympic Medals Stand. Sometimes crazy stuff happens. Its one in a long line of injuries he has battled throughout his life. Because the human body and the human mind can overcome anything.. He was rescued the next morning, but hypothermia and frostbite meant that he lost a toe. chants, Gardner fought off Karelin's aggressive attacks in the second period, and in overtime to capture the gold and the hearts of spectators around the world. He had to leave and go to a nearby mall to accommodate all the people who wanted to talk to him and get autographs. Rulon Gardner's net worth We are committed to making our website ADA compliant. Empty shelves line the wall to his right, but various items from his vast memorabilia collection fill the ones to his left. As he weaves around trucks, zipping up I-15 North through Provo, Utah, he may be the biggest human on the highway,. The wave has brought him to Utah and deposited him in a mountainside home . Rulon is currently making his profession as a motivational speaker, often appearing as a keynote presenter and event host. Rulons achievements in the program were nothing short of astonishing. All those people who told me I could never get here and get on this stage, Im going to show them. While Gardner has been working out of the office for a few months, he officially moved his stuff in last night. He pulls into a parking lot surrounded by snow-covered peaks, leaves Gus in the car and steps into the chilly mountain air in his gym shorts. That led to a scholarship at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho (now Brigham Young University-Idaho), where Gardner won a junior college national title. Now he knows better. But he also knows he cant risk pushing them away. He has written three books Cowboy Up: Kenny Sailors, The Jump Shot and Wyoming's Championship Basketball History; Black 14: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Wyoming Football and Lost Cowboys: The Story of Bud Daniel and Wyoming Baseball. After an FBI investigation, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to 34 months in prison. Through it all, though, he says hes still glad he went on the show. On the other side is all of Rulons professional contact info and a list of insurance brands they hawkand guess what Rulon signs every time somebody bugs him for an autograph. He and his first wife Sheri lost their daughter, Stacey in a terrible car accident on December . They drop $20 bills on the table for books with personalized inscriptions. [23], On December 31, 2004, Gardner fought Hidehiko Yoshida in a judo vs wrestling mixed martial arts (MMA) bout for the Pride Fighting Championships at an event named PRIDE Shockwave 2004. As the American shares in the Olympic Channel film 'Rulon', he got separated from the party he was with, became trapped in a shallow river, and was forced to spend the night in sub-zero temperatures with no shelter or jacket. I gotta make some changes.. But the idea of himof Rulon Gardnerbeing a quitter, that one hes ready to put to bed. In 2012, after trimming down on the show, Gardner mounted a comeback attempt for the London Olympics, eight years after medaling in Athens. I knew every piece and how to use it. Rulon also describes his Greco-Roman wrestling career, his Olympic victory, his academic struggles, and an account of his near-death experience after the snowmobile accident. Martinez is a Utahn and three-time NCAA qualifier at Clarion in Pennsylvania who also went 153 as a pro martial arts fighter. One of his lightweights catches an elbow in the wrong spot and blood pours from his nose, seeping into his warm-up shirt and splattering on the crowded mat. "The gold medal was so far away from what I thought I could do in my life. , money, salary, income, and assets. Welcome back? Rulon chuckled, after hed left, and he made a face that said: Busted. You say, 'Yeah, I can beat him.' He is quiet but he holds peoples attention when hes talking to them. Now its like, O.K., lets be smart about any decisions in the future, he said. He wants to push the kids as hard as he can, the way old coaches pushed him, trying to be a force in their lives that leads them to greatness. For more information, visit the website linked above. He got married in October 2020, has lost around 50lbs (22.5kg) in weight, and recently moved to St. George, Utah, where he hopes to start a youth wrestling training centre. In that first match, Karelin slammed Gardner on his face three times and even flipped him feet-first over his head in a violent maneuver that had Gardner's wife, Stacy, fearing for her husband's life. Trending News. Perhaps most importantly, in this whole arrangement, is that the company is accommodating of his schedule. With the crowd now engaged and rooting the long shot on with "USA!" So when Rulon filed for bankruptcy and authorities collected his possession to be auctioned off, they couldnt touch the medal. He is from . He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won the gold medal in 2000, defeating Russia's Aleksandr Karelin in the final. Winning the Gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 came through extreme dedication and sacrifice. Some of the unwelcome nicknames given to him included Dumbo, and later Fatso due to his size. Gardner poses for photo after photo, always holding the 2004 bronze medal and letting his admirers hold the gold. He earned a football scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 437 Rulon Gardner Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images EDITORIAL All Sports Entertainment News Archival Browse 437 rulon gardner stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. His life carry right before his snowmobile accident overcome anything and Lavinia Wells, jokes that shes sure wear. The 2004 bronze medal and letting his admirers hold the gold before his accident! Salt Lake City Olympics, which he got to carry right before snowmobile... Her $ 24K for the first six months, he only lost his right toe to.! Born on October 16, 1971, in this whole arrangement, that! 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