Rulon Gardner and his partner Justin Pope winning the challenge on the treadmill during The Biggest Loser first episode.

NBC organized a media teleconference for Olympic wrestling champion Rulon Gardner on Friday, just a few days after the season premiere for The Biggest Loser, the popular weight loss show. After just one episode of the new season, Rulon’s participation on the program has created a buzz across the nation and within the sports community.

During the teleconference, Gardner was asked to clarify a statement he made on the first episode of the show, when he said, "I never worked this hard when I was trying to make the Olympic team." Some within wrestling were upset that he was not being genuine about the challenges of training on the Olympic level.

He was asked in the teleconference if they were harder workouts or if it was just tougher on him because of the 200 pounds extra that he had to carry. According to Gardner, it was all about the weight, which was at 474 pounds in his first Biggest Loser weigh-in.

“It was ultimately the 200 pounds I had to carry during the workouts,” said Gardner. “You know, that first workout we had was so physical and so exhausting. And it was so brutal because I was trying to make my body run and sprint and move like I used to when I was 280 pounds or 260 pounds. And it didn’t move the same way. It was like moving a bowling ball body, when you used to be able to run with a stick.”

Gardner compared the difference in working out after being out of shape so long to the difficult workouts he endured as a world-class athlete.

“It was absolutely difficult for me. I don’t want to disrespect any of the training, but in wrestling you’re so specific and you’re so good. You’re such a fine-tuned athlete that you’ve been doing it every day,” said Gardner. “Getting on the show, I had been sedentary for six years. And I was thrust into workouts that were moderate to high intensity for a person who had been in shape for years.”

He shared the challenges he faced trying to do a moderate workout while carrying 474 pounds.

“It’s hard to physically move and to get around when you’re so overweight,” said Gardner. “You have the competition weight. And I was still huge then. I was 286 and 265 pounds at the two Olympics. I was a big guy then. And then you throw another 200 pounds on it. And my structure, I’m only 6’1”. And so it’s just there’s so much girth, you know, moving 474 pounds. I had a lot of muscle on me but ultimately that muscle gets fatigued and can get injured because the human body is not meant to function at that weight.”

In his first workout on the Biggest Loser, Gardner had to push himself completely just to achieve the tasks assigned to him.

“They want to do so many functions that I physically wasn’t capable of really doing at that point. You know, if somebody had asked me to do a cartwheel, I’d probably say you’re crazy,” said Gardner.

Gardner answered a variety of questions from a number of reporters, many who were from the sports community and others who were from the entertainment press. Based on this teleconference, numerous new articles about Gardner and his quest to become The Biggest Loser.

Gardner was asked how it happened that he gained so much weight after he retired from wrestling after his bronze-medal performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

“I allowed myself the excuse to ultimately gain the weight. And then, in another light, I think losing control and gaining the weight was a way to step away from wrestling and say I’m completely done as a wrestler,” said Gardner. “I think part of the weight gain was actually something I actually did to myself instead of having a plan for my life and my future. I didn’t have a plan and I allowed myself to enjoy the fruits of life and not be accountable for it.”

Gardner admitted that he had a lower self-esteem and dealt with depression after he had gained all of the weight.

“That just kind of snowballed on itself until I finally realized that I was out of control and there was no way to slow myself down until I put my foot down,” said Gardner.

Gardner said he decided to change his life during the National Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Stillwater, Okla. last June. He was given a suggestion to seek a spot on The Biggest Loser from Hall of Fame Executive Director Lee Roy Smith. After the awards dinner and Gardner bought some more fast food, when the reality sunk in and he finally had to deal with his life situation.

“I’m sitting there, doing what I usually do, stay up late at night and eat bad food. I’m watching the induction ceremony on the local news and they have a clip of me and I did not recognize the person in the TV footage,” said Gardner. “When I was watching it, everything finally came through because I realized that my health was starting to become an issue. And that was the day that I looked in the mirror and I said holy cow. You are so physically unhealthy and you are so obese. It’s time to make a change.”

He was also willing to act upon his problem, as well.

“The next day Lee Roy brought it up again and I said I’m going to talk to USA Wrestling and see if there’s any way they have a contact at NBC that can help me potentially get on the show,” he said.

USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender made the initial inquiry to NBC Olympic sports executives and got the ball rolling. 

Gardner doesn’t believe that it is all that uncommon for former athletes to let their weight and health go after their competitive career is over.

“Ultimately there’s a lot of former athletes out there that they’re in the same position I am because we’ve trained our mind and our body to think we need all this food. And when we get done it’s so hard to just stop and say, you know what? Your health is more important than this food. A lot of former athletes continue to have that problem. And I’ve seen it a lot in the wrestling world and it’s hard to break that cycle,” said Gardner.

He was asked about his attitudes after his past brushes with death.

“For me, being alive is that important because you have one chance to go through life. And the near death experiences that I’ve been through, they’ve almost taken my life,” he said. “Honestly, at a point since the frostbite and the plane wreck, there’s a point that I didn’t care if I died. I actually thought in my mind that I’ve lived life to the fullest. I’ve done more in my lifetime than people have the rest of their lives.”

Others asked him about the fact that many believe that he is the favorite to win The Biggest Loser because of his past as an Olympic champion as well as having to manage his weight as a wrestler.

“So I may be on an odds-on favorite and people here talk about that. Just remember, you know people right around 50% loss or above win the show. I’m at 474 and ultimately, losing 200 pounds, puts me at my scratch weight. For me to be at 50%, I have to be way beyond 275 or 260 pounds. I have to be way below that. And I haven’t seen that since Junior High,” said Gardner.

He also noted that an Olympic champion being on the show brings out the competitive nature of all of the other contestants.

“People think I may be a favorite but ultimately, people put targets on people’s back. I know that people have already said you know what? What would it be like to take down an Olympic champion? What would it be like to be able to beat the best of the best? I feel more pressure upon that from other people around here that think they’re going to beat me,” said Gardner.

Gardner was asked about his future after The Biggest Loser.

“Ultimately, in my role in this big plan of the world, I’m a teacher and I love to teach and to give back. The sport of wrestling is a love of mine and a passion of mine. And that’s, the area I want to give back that perception, that ability to believe in themselves like I have and people have believed in me. I think this world is about giving and taking. And, you know, I’ve taken a lot and I’ve also given a lot. And I think there’s so much more to give; it’s just all about how you allocate your energy in life.”

Gardner will appear on the second episode of the new season of The Biggest Loser on Tuesday night on NBC.