TESTIMONY  U.S. HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, TRADE AND CONSUMER PROTECTION  RULON GARDNER, CASCADE, COLO.    My name is Rulon Gardner. I am a Greco-Roman wrestler and a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. You may remember me from the Sydney Olympic Games. I am the Wyoming dairy farm boy who defeated the unbeaten three-time Olympic champion Alexander Kareline of Russia for the gold medal. My fellow Olympians gave me the ultimate honor of asking me to carry the U.S. flag in the Closing Ceremonies there.    Winning the Olympic gold medal was my life-long dream, and something I could not have achieved by myself. I give credit to my family, which has supported me my entire life. I give credit to my coaches, who helped prepare me completely for the Olympic Games.    But I also give credit to USA Wrestling, the national governing body for wrestling in the United States, as well as to the U.S. Olympic Committee. Without the Olympic family supporting me financially, as well as with training facilities and international competition, I would have NEVER been able to capture that gold medal for America.    The great sport of wrestling has allowed me so many opportunities. The sport has let me challenge myself as an athlete and as a person. It has taught me to set high goals and to work hard to achieve them. Wrestling is the reason that an overweight kid with learning difficulties has developed to the point where he has been asked to speak to the U.S. House of Representatives today.     We are here to answer the question: "Does the U.S. Olympic Committee organizational structure impede its mission."     I do not pretend to be an expert on organization. Nor do I know the full history of the USOC and its administration. What I can tell you is how the Olympic athletes feel about the current controversy and how it affects us directly.    I, as an Olympic athlete, remind you that the Olympic Committee was formed to help us to win Olympic medals. It is not about professional staff members, or volunteer Board members or various committees. The Olympic Committee was formed to help Rulon Gardner and my fellow Olympic athletes to realize their dreams.    This current controversy has been upsetting to the athletes, because we truly care about the Olympic movement.    However, the hubbub about the USOC has not affected my ability to train, nor has it taken away the support that I need. Not yet.     I still have access to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. My coaches are still running daily practices. There is still food in the dining hall, and equipment in the weight room. None of my support checks from the U.S. Olympic Committee have bounced. I have been able focus on wrestling, and getting prepared for the next Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.    In fact, right during the craziest times last month, I was honored to represent the USA in a tremendous international event created by the USOC called the Titan Games. You may not have heard about that, because the media was too busy chasing Senators and Board members and staff members all over the country.    Now, this controversy will affect me directly if the Olympic sponsors stop their support, and if the individual Olympic donors decide to find another cause. If we let the focus of the Olympic movement go away from the athletes to other things, then I will be hurt.     We all have a job here to help the Olympic movement in the United States. It is my job to be a champion athlete. It is your job to help me get to that podium.    If changing the way that the U.S. Olympic Committee does business helps me to be an Olympic medalist, then I support it completely. If finding new leaders to run our professional staff will help provide more resources to the athletes, then I am completely on board.    We expect our professional staff, our volunteer leaders and our elected officials to represent the Olympic movement with integrity. We expect their best effort and a commitment to excellence. That is what you expect out of every athlete every time we compete and represent our nation.    So, to sum things up, I ask you all to remember the athlete in your work with the USOC. We do not need to tear down the Olympic Committee to the point that the athletes are hurt. There is nothing wrong with positive changes, if they make the USOC better able to support its athletes.     Thank you for caring about the Olympics, and for allowing an athlete to give his opinion.