Rulon Gardner named to The Sporting News' 100 Most Powerful list in sports

<< Back to Articles
Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
12/13/2000


Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion Rulon Gardner (Afton,Wyo./Sunkist Kids) was named to The Sporting News' 100 Most Powerful list in sports. Professional golfer Tiger Woods was named No. 1 by the magazine.    Gardner was ranked No. 80 in the annual selection of sports industry leaders. He was one of only five athletes on the list, joined by Woods (No. 1), baseball player Alex Rodriguez (No. 43), tennis player Anna Kornikova (No. 76) and basketball player Shaquille O'Neil (No. 90). Gardner was the only amateur athlete on the list, as the other four athletes are professional sports superstars.    According to The Sporting News' web page, " Gardner provided the most galvanizing moment of the Games when he beat the 'unbeatable' Russian, Alexander Kareline. "    Gardner defeated Kareline, a three-time Olympic champion and nine-time World champion, in the gold-medal finals at 286 pounds in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Sydney Olympic Games. Kareline had never lost a match on the international level until Gardner's outstanding achievement. Since the Games have ended, Gardner has been a popular public figure, appearing on numerous national television shows and other public appearances.    TSN's 100 MOST POWERFUL    1. TIGER WOODS, golfer  2. PAUL TAGLIABUE,  Commissioner, National Football League  3. RUPERT MURDOCH, CEO, News Corp.  4. DAVID STERN, Commissioner, National Basketball  5. PHILIP KNIGHT, Chairman and CEO, Nike  6. GEORGE STEINBRENNER, Principal owner, New York Yankees  7. MARK McCORMACK, Founder and CEO, IMG  8. BUD SELIG, Commissioner, Major League Baseball  9. AUGUST BUSCH IV,  Group vice president, marketing and wholesale operations, Anheuser-Busch      ANTHONY T. PONTURO, VP of corporate media and sports marketing, Anheuser-Busch  10. DICK EBERSOL, Chairman, NBC Sports and NBC Olympics  11. CHARLES DOLAN, Chairman, Cablevision          JAMES DOLAN,  CEO, Cablevision  12. GEORGE BODENHEIMER, President, ESPN  13. DONALD FEHR, Executive director, MLBPA  14. SEAN McMANUS,  President, CBS Sports  15. GARY BETTMAN, Commissioner, National Hockey League  16. STEVE CASE,  Chairman, AOL Time Warner (pending)  17. JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH, President, International Olympic Committee  18. PAUL BEESTON, Chief Operating Officer, Major League Baseball  19. CHASE CAREY, Chairman/CEO, Fox Television  20. BILL FRANCE JR., Chairman, board of directors, NASCAR; chairman, ISC  21. JOHN G. MIDDLEBROOK, Vice president/GM, vehicle brand marketing,  General Motors Corp.  22. ROBERT D. KAIN,  Senior executive VP, IMG; COO, IMG's North  23. CHARLES FRUIT, VP/director of media and marketing assets, Coca-Cola  24. MICHAEL EISNER, Chairman/CEO, Disney  25. JOHN MALONE,  Chairman, Liberty Media  26. DAVID FALK, Chairman, SFX Sports Group  27. DAVID D'ALESSANDRO, CEO, John Hancock  28. FRANK CRAIGHILL, Worldwide chairman, Octagon  29. PHILIP ANSCHUTZ,  Owner, Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Galaxy,  Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Staples Center  30. TOM CONDON, President, IMG Football  32. LEIGH STEINBERGk,  CEO, Assante Sports Management Group  33. TIM FINCHEM,  Commissioner, PGA Tour  34. MIKE HELTON, President, NASCAR  35. GENE UPSHAW, Executive director, NFLPA  36. SCOTT BORAS, Sports attorney; founder, Scott Boras Corp.  37. TED TURNER, Vice chairman, AOL Time Warner (pending)  38. ROGER GOODELL,  Executive VP for business, properties and club services, NFL  39. RICHARD POUND, Vice president, International Olympic Committee  40. EDDY HARTENSTEIN, President, DirecTV  41. RUSS GRANIK, Deputy commissioner, NBA  42. MITT ROMNEY, President/CEO, Salt Lake Organizing Committee  43. ALEX RODRIGUEZ, Shortstop  44. CEDRIC DEMPSEY, President, NCAA  45. TED LEONSIS,  President, AOL Interactive Properties Group; owner,Washington Capitals; minority owner, Washington Wizards, MCI Center  46. PHIL de PICCIOTTO, President of athlete representation, Octagon  47. SCOTT BLACKMUN, Acting CEO, USOC  48. JEFFREY MOORAD, Managing director, Assante Sports Management Group  49. JIM DELANY,  Commissioner, Big Ten Conference          ROY KRAMER, Commissioner, Southeastern Conference  50. BILL ALLARD, President/COO, SFX Sports Group  51. JACQUES ROGGE, Member, executive committee, International Olympic Committee  52. MICHAEL JORDAN, President of basketball operations, Washington Wizards  53. HARVEY SCHILLER, Chairman/CEO, YankeeNets  54. SANDY ALDERSON, Executive VP, baseball operations, Major League Baseball  55. TIM BROSNAN, Executive VP/business, Major League Baseball  56. TERRY McGUIRK, Chairman/CEO, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.  57. TOM JERNSTEDT,  Senior vice president, NCAA  58. VINCE McMAHON, Chairman, World Wrestling Federation; co-executive producer, XFL.  59. BARRY FRANK, Senior corporate VP, IMG  60. JERRY COLANGELO, Chairman/CEO, Phoenix Suns; managing general  61. MARK LAZARUS, President, Turner Sports  62. SONNY VACCARO,  Consultant to the president, adidas America  63. STEPHEN UNGER, Managing director, Heidrick and Struggles  64. WILLIAM DALY,  Executive VP and chief legal officer, NHL  65. BRIAN FRANCE, Senior VP, NASCAR  66. WILLIAM HYBL, Chairman, USOC; member, IOC  67. DAVID FILO and JERRY YANG, Co-founders, Yahoo!  68. MIKE KRZYZEWSKI,  Men's basketball coach, Duke University  69. JEFF SHELL, President/CEO, Fox Cable Networks  70. SHYAM DAS, Arbitrator, Major League Baseball  71. LEE ANN DALY,   Senior VP, marketing, ESPN  72. DAVE CHECKETTS,  CEO, Madison Square Garden  73. JIM ROME, Talk-show host  74. MICHAEL BARNETT, President, IMG Hockey  75. MICHAEL LEVY, Founder and CEO, CBS SportsLine.com  76. ANNA KOURNIKOVA, Tennis player  77. JOHN SWOFFORD,  Commissioner, Atlantic Coast Conference  78. JOHN MANLEY,  Industry minister, Canada  79. JERRY JONES,  President and general manager, Dallas Cowboys  80. RULON GARDNER,  Olympic gold medalist, Greco-Roman wrestling  81. STAN KASTEN,  President, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks and  82. ANDY VAN HELLEMOND, Director of Officiating, NHL  83. DAVID PRICE, Vice president for enforcement and student-athlete reinstatement, NCAA  85. MICHAEL LYNCH, Vice president of event marketing, Visa USA  86. DON OHLMEYER, Producer and analyst, ABC Monday Night Football      DENNIS MILLER, Analyst, ABC Monday Night Football   87. BOB GOODENOW, Executive director, NHLPA  88. BOBBY BURTON, Recruiting analyst       TOM LEMMING, Recruiting analyst  89. BOB COSTAS,  Sportscaster, NBC  90. SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, Center, Los Angeles Lakers  91. HAROLD HENDERSON, Executive vice president for labor relations; chair, management council, NFL  92. MORRIS ENGELBERG, Executor, Joe DiMaggio's estate  93. TODD AMORDE, Chair, Screen Actors Guild strike committee  94. ADAM SILVER,  President and COO, NBA Entertainment  95. DONNA LOPIANO, Executive director, Womens Sports Foundation   96. JEFF KNAPPLE,  President and CEO, Envision  97. WILLIAM KITCHEN, Provincial Court Judge, British Columbia   98. VAL ACKERMAN, President, WNBA  99. WILLIAM HUNTER, Executive director, NBPA  100. FRED TRAUBE, Record promoter