Olympic champion Gardner to appear on ESPN's The New American Sportsman hosted by Deion Sanders
<< Back to Articles
John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
11/03/2003
Olympic champion Rulon Gardner (Cascade, Colo./Sunkist Kids) will be featured on the ESPN outdoors show The New American Sportsman hosted by Deion Sanders at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday, November 3. The hour-long show will feature Gardner fishing with another host of the show. Gardner made history in 2000, capturing an Olympic gold medal by defeating Alexandre Kareline of Russia, who had previously been unbeaten in 13 years of international competition. The super-heavyweight then became the first American Greco-Roman wrestler to win back-to-back gold medals with his World Championship in 2001. In February, 2002, Gardner was stranded overnight in freezing temperatures in the wilderness and suffered severe frostbite, and as a result of the accident, lost one toe to amputation. He made a comeback to wrestling, and earned a spot on the 2003 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team, placing 10th at the World Championships, qualifying his weight class for the 2004 Olympic Games for the United States.