He was rescued the next morning, but hypothermia and frostbite meant that he lost a toe. He also works as an insurance agent at JRI Insurance in Payson, Utah. Rulon again captured the attention of America when he appeared as a contestant of the NBC television program The Biggest Loser. Who was bullied and teased as he. Bankruptcy trustee postpones Rulon Gardner auction, reconsidering what possessions he will keep., Greenwald, John. He holds up his thumb and index finger a couple inches apart. With the video paused, Gardner meanders through one of the most improbable sporting stories ever, about a kid who grew up milking cows on a Wyoming farm. 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. Yoshida, in addition to being an Olympic gold medalist in judo, was a highly successful MMA fighter. CEDAR CITY Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner took to the podium at a recent luncheon hosted by Cedar City's Chamber of Commerce Thursday to share how he became a champion and survivor. He drew a direct line between what Rulon taught him about good positioning and how he was able to throw his opponent in the finals. [1], Gardner was born in Afton, Wyoming. Hey Mount Olive wrestlers, this is Rulon Gardner. Karelin was previously unbeaten for 13 years in international competition. Gardner is keeping busy in his late 40s. At one point during the conversation about The Biggest Loser, he whips out his phone and calls Moses Kinikini, a fellow contestant on that season. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won the gold medal in 2000, defeating Russia's Aleksandr Karelin in the final. To put it in perspective, Rulon Gardner was a first-timer at the Olympics that year. Rulon gives his incoming wrestler a high-five, then high-fives his state champ and match No. Three years later he walked away from a plane crash into Lake Powell with only a minor hip injury and a concussion. During his efforts to regain his composure and regroup, he fell into the freezing Salt River with his snowmobile. 51-year-old Rulon Gardner, the U.S. wrestling legend who defeated the unbeatable Aleksandr Karelin in the gold medal match of the 2000 Games in Sydney, tells us he's gunning to make the 2024 . Gardner attended junior college at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) in Rexburg, Idaho and as a sophomore won the NJCAA national heavyweight wrestling championship. The former Olympic champion said he lost 150 pounds, with his ultimate goal being making it back to the Olympics.. Gardner decided to pursue his Olympic dreams instead, but a staph infection prevented him from going to the 1996 Games in Atlanta, where Karelin barely broke a sweat in winning his third gold medal. Some of the advice is technical, some is motivational. The branch is independent, meaning they can sell policies through multiple insurance companies. 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. Rulon Gardner's age is 51. I didnt choose to leave, he says. For more information, visit the website linked above. I learned how to count calories. Read more of SI's Daily Cover stories here. Rulon Ellis Gardner (born August 16, 1971) is an American retired Greco-Roman Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler. They spent the night in freezing temperatures with no fire or shelter. He then earned a football scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Its back to Utah, his day job and his team. Getting healthy and keeping the weight down. It was a David vs. Goliath showdown that shocked the world. Its a fairly light dayjust 15 minutes of drilling, followed by two full six-minute matches for each wrestler, same as theyll go tomorrow at States, with just 30 seconds between periods. As a pro boxer, she identified with his wrestler mentality. After the failed comeback attempt in 2012, he even came back to the peacock, working again for NBCs coverage of those London Games from their New York City office. 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. He finished his college career at the University of Nebraska, finishing fourth at the 1993 NCAA championships and departing Lincoln with a bachelor's degree in physical education and health. Because Rulon Gardner isnt a quitter. He is from . When youre famous, he says matter-of-factly, people just give you stuff.. Instead, he takes each challenge and uses it as a means to improve his life. He was on The Biggest Loser, hosted by Jillian Michaels. Unbelievably, that wasn't Rulon's only near-death experience with hypothermia. He points to some of the younger members of the team and tells them theyre the future. Turns out, it was the first miracle of many. Some of the unwelcome nicknames given to him included Dumbo, and later Fatso due to his size. One, two, three, state titles!. Nine minutes. Its horrifying for me and my family.. As heavier weights, they just have a little more time before their semifinal bouts. But he has never wavered in his commitment to motivatingwhether its young wrestlers, those in the business world or, not least of all, himself. LOGAN Other than a short visit at Christmastime, Kamie Gardner hasn't seen her husband in six months and doesn't expect to see him again at least until April. Rulon feels he was treated unfairly. That was just a small dumbbell shy of 500. Tournament organizers hold medal ceremonies, one weight class at a time, with wrestlers posing atop the podium with their new hardware. I got my health back, I got my fitness and I got my life back. Thats awesome, she said. The four state qualifiers pair off. Rulon's wrestling career began when he was six years old. The documentary includes footage of a previous match in which Karelin picked the 265-pound Gardner up and tossed him around en route to an easy win. After 16 weeks on the show, Gardner had lost 173 pounds. Hes dealing with coaches, parents andfor the first time this yearcollege recruiters. I didnt want to leave.. Im at a low point now. Gardner won his cherished (and oft-photographed) gold by beating the seemingly unbeatable Karelin. And hes since gotten smarter about managing his finances and investments. The 8,500-seat gym is the former home of an NBA G-League team thats since moved to Delaware and a former team in a now defunct arena football league. In a normal year, not interrupted by a pandemic, the high school wrestling season runs November to February. Rulon currently serves as the head wrestling coach at Herriman High School in Utah. This is another touchy subject for Rulon, though one he discusses openly. Rulon says one of the images that stands out from that day was in the final second of the match, when both wrestlers knew it was over. @5PtMove. 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. Gardner is a thrill-seeker, and later on that year was involved in a motorcycle accident. Because the human body and the human mind can overcome anything.. When the high school team needed a new coach soon after that, he got the job. Someday the book will come out, Gardner says. All I can do is use the experiences of my life to inject knowledge into our youth, Gardner says in the film. He strolls past a crowd of high school girls, and none of them even turn their heads to notice him as his towering figure walks through the rows of narrow red lockers, and hangs a left toward the wrestling room. In episode 17, he arrived at the group weigh-in wearing his cut-off yellow T-shirt, jogged up a flight of stairs, turned to face his fellow contestants, clasped his hands behind his back and announced: This is gonna be my last time on the scale. Photo Credit: NBCNews.com Many details concerning Jeffs' wives are not known as a majority of them still keep to themselves and are not vocal about their FLDS lives. 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. "To be realistic, I didn't think I could actually beat him," Gardner, age 29 at the time, told the media afterward. I make a lot of excuses for myself. I surprised myself probably more than them.. Nicole Hazen, the wife of Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen, died on Thursday after a lengthy cancer battle. Gardner's goal is to get near the weight at which he competed. As a senior in high school, The Wyoming native won a state wrestling title and placed second in the shot put. 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. . During a snowmobiling trip with some friends in Star Valley, Wyoming, he became separated from the group and fell into the freezing Salt River with his snowmobile. Karelin was previously unbeaten for 13 years in international competition. Rulon Gardner of Star Valley, Wyo.,defeats Russia Aleksandr Karelin to win the gold medal in Greco-Roman Wrestling at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Wrestler Survives Frozen Night. The Associated Press, Feb. 19, 2002. In January 2011, he was announced as a contestant on season 11 of the American reality television show, The Biggest Loser. Gardner is known for his defeat of three-time reigning gold medalist Aleksandr Karelin at the 2000 Summer Olympics. And I knew I was doing it because I love it.". Accessed Jan. 5, 2013 at, The photo of Gardner on his victory lap after winning a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, is from, Casper Chapter, Wyoming Archaeological Society, June Frison chapter, Wyoming Archeological Society. There is one tangible positive in Rulons life as a direct result of his appearance on The Biggest Loser. Maybe not quite as busy as when he grew up on the farm, milking cows and carrying irrigation pipe from sunup to sundown. [A PR rep for the show, which has since been relaunched on the NBC/Comcast-owned USA Network, could not make anyone involved with Gardners season of the show available for comment. You want me to come give a speech? Herriman High has a break now, as the tourney progresses through the middleweights, before the schools two other wrestlers compete. 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. State titles on three, Martinez says. As they play the national anthem, Rulon stands in the athlete warmup area, along with other coaches who have kids in the finals. 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. In the morning they were able to flag down a passing fisherman who picked them up. The finals are a spectacle. The astonishing true story of Rulon Gardner, a dairy farmer from Wyoming who shocked the world at the Sydney Olympics, overcoming 2000 to 1 odds by defeating a Russian wrestler who hadn't lost a single match in 13 years. 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. 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. Hes the keynote speaker. Posnanski, Joe (March 21, 2011) "Point After: Losing, and Loving It", "Rulon Gardner and the lonely afterglow of Olympic gold", "Booking Rulon Gardner Speaker Appearances, Rulon Gardner Agent Manager Contact, Hiring Rulon Gardner Speaking Engagements Costs Fees", "The Biggest Loser" Season 11 Finale Recap: A great cast is the ultimate trump card, "Gardner lives to tell of another life-threatening accident Olympics ESPN", "Daugherty: Having embraced wrestling to fullest, Gardner lets go", "Olympian Gardner survives small plane crash (AP report)", "Rulon Gardner to receive Citizenship Through Sports Alliance award for sportsmanship | TheMat.com USA Wrestling", "Aleksandr KARELIN | Olympic Athlete | Atlanta 1996, Barcelona 1992, Seoul 1988, Sydney 2000", "Two-time Olympic wrestling medalist Rulon Gardner undergoes additional surgery on his foot damaged b | TheMat.com USA Wrestling", "Pro-Wrestling Gets 'Real' Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment", "Baltimore Sports News: Sports News, Scores and Schedules baltimoresun.com", "Rulon Gardner considers comeback for 2012 Olympics", "Despite failed comeback, Rulon Gardner is not finished wrestling", "Rulon Gardner MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography", Professional MMA record for Rulon Gardner, Rulon Gardner's page from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, "Nine minutes: How the Sydney Olympics changed wrestler Rulon Gardner's life", Olympic Champions in Greco-Roman super heavyweight, World Champions in Greco-Roman super heavyweight (130 kg), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rulon_Gardner&oldid=1128334527, Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in wrestling, Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling, Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States, Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling, Pan American Games medalists in wrestling, Articles with dead external links from April 2017, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, United States Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year, 2001, Inducted as a Distinguished Member of the, This page was last edited on 19 December 2022, at 16:04. Rulon even gave him his phone number so they could text each other. Zahne says he knows about Rulon Gardner's appearance on NBC's 'The Biggest Loser' from his wife, who is a fan of the show. Hundreds of wrestlers are running around, stretching or sparring to warm up. After the 2000 Olympics he suffered a series of injuries from both a snowmobiling and motorcycle accident. Through it all, though, he says hes still glad he went on the show. She says she has only positive things to say about her experience being on the show in general and working with Rulon in particular. But life moves on. 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. He retired at the end of his 2004 match and then ballooned to 474 poundsand facing potentially serious health problemssigned on to be a contestant on NBC's The Biggest Loser. Wrestling comeback in Rulon's plans. Gardner, 43, said the bankruptcy has been difficult to go through, but it has . But so many people in so many hundreds of matches have thought that, then they go out and he basically crushes them.". Sometimes crazy stuff happens. Rulon Gardner. One of his fellow contestants even remarked in a solo confessional to the camera how strange it was not to get a more detailed explanation. Karelin at the time had not had a point scored on him in 6 years and . Rulon Ellis Gardner (born August 16, 1971) is an American retired Greco-Roman Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler. However, the future Olympian did not immediately command his sport on the farm or even at Star Valley High School. Rulon says its a shamethey used to have two pictures of him hanging on the wall. Rulon and his wife live in . Rulon Ellis Gardner (born August 16, 1971) is an American retired Greco-Roman Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler. Gardner owns two of them. But he also knows hes Rulon Gardner. American Olympian who competed in the 2000 Olympic games in Greco-Roman wrestling, winning a gold medal in the 130 kg weight class. He lifts women up off the ground with one arm, if they want him to, and most of them do. Gardner, trained by Bas Rutten, won the bout via unanimous decision. Rulon started paying her $24,000 a month. The problem: She had been fabricating documents, according to the FBI, including the ones she showed Rulon. Gardner stands behind him, hands on Jacks shoulders, imparting a few final words of wisdom as they wait for his mat assignment. The two heavier weights point first to the technique they learned from him. Rulon Gardner. 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, in which he describes his Greco-Roman wrestling career, his academic struggles (as someone who suffers from a learning disability) and an account of his near-death experience when stranded after a snowmobile accident. Rulon Gardner was born on August 16, 1971 in Afton, United States (51 years old). To see him put his head down and feel loss [I felt] happiness, but also sorrow, Rulon says. In 2011, he accepted an offer to appear on American reality TV show The Biggest Loser, in an attempt to shed some of his 474lbs (215kg). There are not many people who can compete with him physically. Rad, like many coaches, has put on a tie. 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. He is famous for being a Wrestler. She also appreciated his respect for her as a woman, saying it can sometimes be tough for her to earn the trust and respect of male clients, but that wasnt the case with Rulon. Rulon Gardner has lost 150 pounds and is targeting a comeback Credit: INSTAGRAM. And he was searching for that mindset again. Just quit. Im like, no, Im not gonna quit. No, not that match. He loves working with kids to help them achieve their greatest success. Both will advance to Day 2, starting with the semifinals in the morning, two wins away from the top spot on the podium. But Gardner certainly isnt most athletes, and approached his Olympic final believing that second-place would be a satisfactory achievement. 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. American Olympian who competed in the 2000 Olympic games in Greco-Roman wrestling, winning a gold medal in the 130 kg weight class. Gardner has a little car and a little traveling companion: Gus. In track and field, as a senior, he took second at the state finals in the shot put.[14]. Practically speaking, he is coaching more than that. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. , milking cows and carrying irrigation pipe from sunup to sundown and field, as head... His efforts to regain his composure and regroup, he got the job 6 and! Senior, he was rescued the next morning, but also sorrow, rulon Gardner has a little and... Companion: Gus not immediately command his sport on the show, Gardner born... Unanimous decision with no fire or shelter them achieve their greatest success first-timer at the 2000 games. Near the weight at which he competed pounds and is targeting a comeback Credit: INSTAGRAM later due! 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