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Journalism of Courage
Sydney, September 27: American Rulon Gardner, brought up on a dairy farm "pushing cows about", leaned heavily on that experience to stop giant Russian bear Alexander Karelin joining the ranks of Olympic immortals on Wednesday. Gardner, a hulking 130kg grizzly, employed heroic Defence to end Karelin’s glorious 14-year unbeaten streak by a single point after overtime and lift the Greco-Roman wrestling superheavyweight gold medal. The Russian, variously dubbed "Alexander the Great", "King Kong Karelin", "The Monster" and "The Experiment", had been attempting to join just three other athletes as a winner of four consecutive golds in an individual Olympic event.
Karelin, who virtually submitted three seconds before the end of the bout and watched in stunned disbelief as the American celebrated with a forward somersault, did not say a word to reporters on his surprise defeat.
In contrast, Gardner was voluble about his surprise success. "I have been an underdog every step of my life but my philosphy has been never to quit," said the 29-year-old Gardner.
"I cannot believe I have actually won – I am a kid from Wyoming, the Lord has blessed me somehow. Karelin is immensely strong – it is like shoving a horse around. You know I was raised on a dairy farm and I have a lot of experience pushing cows around to get them where they should be. That experience helped. "I felt calm tonight and used defence to beat him. It got him out of sync and stopped him from lifting. "I had a lot of stamina out there. The Lord works in mysterious ways and if you believe in something in your mind, your body can do it." During his 14-year reign Karelin had won three Olympic golds, nine world titles, 12 European crowns and enormous respect within the sporting world. But the powerful Gardner, fighting in his first major final, proved the superior wrestler on the night. Karelin started brightly in his bid to become the fourth wrestler of the evening to retain his Olympic title. But the giant Russian, who practices by carrying logs through Siberian snowfields, found it impossible to liftthe solidy built American redwood.
The decisive penalty point was awarded after judges reviewed a video and decided that Karelin had illegally broken a hold within the regulation one minute. Bulgaria’s Armen Nazarian won back-to-back gold medals in sensational fashion by pile driving the unfortunate Kim In-Sub of South Korea into the mat in the 58kg showdown. Cuba’s Filiberto Azcuy and Turkey’s Hamza Yerlikaya also retained their Olympic titles on a night which belonged to Gardner.
