Rulon Gardner wins gold medal, upsetting
superstar and previously unbeaten Alexandre Kareline of Russia,
in the finals at 130 kg/286 lbs.
9/27/00
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Rulon Gardner (Afton, Wyo./Sunkist Kids) scored the biggest victory in the history of Olympic wrestling, defeating three-time Olympic Champion and previously unbeaten Alexandre Kareline of Russia in the gold medal finals at 130 kg/286 pounds in Greco-Roman wrestling on September 27 at the Sydney Exhibition Center in Darling Harbour.
Gardner won the match, 1-0 in overtime, scoring the only point in the match from the clinch position at the beginning of the second period. Kareline released his lock from the position first, giving Gardner a point and a caution against Kareline. No other points were scored during the match, as Gardner wore down the Russian star with his constant pressure attack. A key to the victory was Gardner's ability to stop Kareline's patented and powerful reverse body lift.
Kareline had won three Olympic gold medals and nine World Championship gold medals. He had never lost an international wrestling match ever, beginning his career in 1985 with a gold medal at the Junior World Championships. Many consider him the greatest Olympic athlete of modern times.
Gardner was fifth in the World Championships in 1997. During that event, he faced Kareline for the first time, losing a 5-0 match in overtime. It was the only meeting ever between these star wrestlers.
Gardner becomes only the third U.S. Greco-Roman wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal, joining Steve Fraser (198 lbs./90 kg) and super heavyweight Jeff Blatnick, both 1984 Olympic champions. Ironically, both were there to participate in Gardner's historic victory, Fraser as the USA Wrestling National Greco-Roman coach and Blatnick as the NBC color commentator calling the action.
Gardner is competing in his first Olympic Games. He won five matches on the way to the gold medal. Gardner is a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo. and a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. He was an NCAA All-American from the Univ. of Nebraska, and also was an NJCAA Junior College national champion at Ricks College. He attended Star Valley High School in Wyoming.
Led by three individual medalists and five athletes who placed in the top six of their weight classes, the United States placed third in the unofficial team standings at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling.
This is an outstanding achievement, especially
since all eight team members were competing in their first Olympic
Games.
Using the scoring system employed at each World Championships,
the United States trailed Russia and Cuba in the team race after
all eight weight classes were completed on September 27.
Point scorers for the United States were gold
medalist Rulon Gardner at 130 kg (10 points), silver medalist
Matt Lindland at 76 kg (9 points), bronze medalist Garrett Lowney
at 97 kg (8 points) and sixth place finishers Jim Gruenwald at
57 kg (5 points) and Kevin Bracken at 63 kg (5 points).
This done by giving 10 points to the champion, nine to the runner-up,
eight to the bronze medalist, down to one point for 10th place.
Any athletes placing lower than 10th do not score points.
There are no official team standings or team medals in Greco-Roman. The only official way to compare is through the medal count. However, wrestling traditionally evaluates the performance using the World Championships system.
The United States also placed third in the medal count. Russia won with four medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). Cuba was second with three, including one gold and two silvers. The United States also had three, but had one gold, one silver and one bronze.
The U.S. team was led by head coach Dan Chandler, assistant coach Rob Hermann and National Greco-Roman coach Steve Fraser, supported by a number of additional assistant coaches.
The other members of the U.S. team who competed during the Olympics but did not score points in the unofficial standings were Steven Mays at 54 kg, Heath Sims at 69 kg and Quincey Clark at 85 kg.
"I'm tickled pink," said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser. "We have struggled the last few years, and for the guys to step up and perform at this event was a great for our program. It is a tribute to our coaches, wrestlers and supporters that we could step up and place third at the Olympics."
Unofficial team standings: Russia, 41 pts; Cuba, 39 pts.; United States, 37 pts.; Ukraine, 34 pts.; Korea, 32 pts.; Georgia, 25 pts.; Belarus, 20 pts.; Sweden, 19 pts.; Turkey, 14 pts.; Japan, 14 pts.; Israel, 14 pts.; China, 13 pts.; Germany, 13 pts.; Switzerland, 11 pts.; Bulgaria, 10 pts.; Kazakhstan, 10 pts.; Norway, 9 pts.; Azerbaijan, 9 pts.; Finland, 8 pts.; People's Republic of Korea, 8 pts.; Estonia, 8 pts.; Greece, 7 pts.; Uzbekistan, 7 pts.; Iran, 6 pts.; Poland, 6 pts.; Italy, 4 pts.; Romania, 4 pts.; Lithuania, 3 pts.; Kyrgyzstan, 3 pts.; Czech Republic, 2 pts.; Egypt, 2 pts.; Turkmenistan, 1 pt.
Medal count: Russia, 4 (2 gold-1 silver-1bronze); Cuba, 3 (1-2-0); United States, 3 (1-1-1); Korea, 2 (1-1-0); Georgia, 2 (0-0-2); Bulgaria, 1 (1-0-0); Turkey, 1 (1-0-0); Sweden, 1 (1-0-0); Hungary, 1 (0-1-0); Japan, 1 (0-1-0); Norway, 1 (0-1-0); Ukraine, 1 (0-1-0); Belarus, 1 (0-0-1); People's Rep. Of Korea 1 (0-0-1); China, 1 (0-0-1); Finland, 1 (0-0-1)