Olympic Gold Medalist Rulon Gardner Shares His Story

The youngest of nine children, Rulon Gardner was raised on a dairy farm in Wyoming, where the family grew crops and milked cows twice a day. Rulon learned about hard work and determination which became core values in Rulon’s life. As Rulon shares his story, he talks about how his upbringing has helped him deal with the adversity that has come his way. He also talks about his wrestling career which most knew little about until the 2000 Olympics and his match against one of the greatest athletes to have ever wrestled. Though it doesn’t get as much attention as the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Upstate New York, Rulon’s Olympic match against Aleksandr Karelin of Russia in Sydney Australia is an equally impressive underdog story. Aleksandr, “The Russian Bear” was 12 lbs. at birth and a terrifyingly toned 287 pounds in his wrestling prime. He had allowed just a single point to be scored against him in the previous 10 years of competition; he hadn’t lost a match in 13.  Yeah, we talked all about what has now become known as the Miracle on the Mat during our talk story session. But Rulon also talks about other events (which include several brushes with death) that have made him who he is today. 2000 Sydney Olympic match: https://youtu.be/oVT3-wbL8HU?si=5i14CojKHNBG7k1g Website: Rulongardner.com Book: Never Stop Pushing https://a.co/d/03f7dod