Rulon says its a shamethey used to have two pictures of him hanging on the wall. After an FBI investigation, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to 34 months in prison. People think, Oh, Rulon Gardner is a fraud. Or, Rulon Gardner is not trustworthy. They dont realize that sometimes its not you, its other people around you., Gardners quest to win back his medal became fodder for the press, but coverage just looped it in with his well-known financial issues. Curbs can be trouble if hes not watching his landing spot. At one point during the conversation about The Biggest Loser, he whips out his phone and calls Moses Kinikini, a fellow contestant on that season. Rulon Gardner passed up a chance at $250,000 on NBC's hit show "The Biggest Loser" to return home. All Rights Reserved. The astonishing true story of Rulon Gardner, a dairy farmer from Wyoming who shocked the world at the Sydney Olympics, overcoming 2000 to 1 odds by defeating a Russian wrestler who hadn't lost a single match in 13 years. Gardner won a bronze medal at the 2004 Games. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won the gold medal in 2000, defeating Russia's Aleksandr Karelin in the final. She used that money to get a loan for $1.2 million, which later had to be repaid with substantial interest and late fees. After several hours in his makeshift shelter, he stopped shivering, which led him to believe that he was dying. May 31, 2020. I can pick them both up if you want, he jokes about his more than 400 pounds combined of state champion wrestlers. In 2005, Gardner published his autobiography (co-written by Bob Schaller), Never Stop Pushing: My Life from a Wyoming Farm to the Olympic Medals Stand, in which he describes his Greco-Roman wrestling career, his academic struggles (as someone who suffers from a learning disability) and an account of his near-death experience when stranded after a snowmobile accident. They share a big hug and run into the tunnel, into the basement level of the arena, to go celebrate. The sun began to lower and the temperature, which had been twenty-five degrees, began to drop. I didnt choose to leave, he says. 4 Gardner's snowmobile wreck made a lasting impression on him: He reflects on it frequently, and it has cost him feeling in his feet. Losing, and Loving It. Currently Gardner is missing a tooth, the incisor to the right of his two front teeth. How much does he weigh now? Thats easy; he does that every day back in Utah. His first wife is believed to be Zola. Gardner is known for his defeat of Aleksandr Karelin at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He says one day he took a trash can up to the curb, nobody ever came to pick it up, and two days later a neighbor dragged it back in. The problem: She had been fabricating documents, according to the FBI, including the ones she showed Rulon. As of 2011, Gardner worked as a motivational speaker, often appearing as a keynote presenter and event host. Dremiel Byers, the man Gardner trained against at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo., suffered a disappointing loss in the 2012 quarterfinals after finally stepping out of Gardner's large shadow. The memories and Sharpie ink fade with time. Others are still drinking the Kool-Aid, he says. Now, his dark gray, short-sleeve button-down shirt dangles over his belly and hangs out in front of him, unlike the singlets that cling to his body in both the poster and on the book cover. Rad, like many coaches, has put on a tie. As he weaves around trucks, zipping up I-15 North through Provo, Utah, he may be the biggest human on the highway,. Because I learned so much about myself. There are not many people who can compete with him physically. In 2004, he won a bronze medal at the Olympics. He doesn't call, text or e-mail and only occasionally sends letters in the mail and they're long on generalities and short on detail. He laments how people saw his name and the word bankruptcy in headlines and assumed the worst. Options: Reply Quote Posted by: PtLoma ( ) Date: April 29, 2011 05:50PM Here comes Traycee, running in to compete on the same mat. To get back to that weight. [A PR rep for the show, which has since been relaunched on the NBC/Comcast-owned USA Network, could not make anyone involved with Gardners season of the show available for comment. His family barn burned down when he was a kid. He paid her $24K for the first six months, then $36K for the next three, about a quarter million total. The branch is independent, meaning they can sell policies through multiple insurance companies. Rulon stands and leans against her desk, hovering above a speakerphone, mindlessly clicking his pen as they discuss auto insurance quotes for a father who wants to buy a car for a teenage son whos already been in a fender bender. Part of that, he concedes, was because nothing helped him keep his weight down like wrestling. I knew every piece and how to use it. Hes dealing with coaches, parents andfor the first time this yearcollege recruiters. He is looking almost straight up at the flag, at attention. So can wrestling mats. You may have heard of me He obliges every request until hes the last one in the room, packs up his suitcase with his unsold merchandise and heads out the door. Rulons experience with The Biggest Loser started just like every other contestants. Rulons wrestling career began when he was six years old. Today, Gardner has taken the lessons learnt and built a new life for himself. He was unable to repeat his 2000 performance, coming away with the Bronze medal, and after his match, he placed his shoes in the middle of the mat as a symbol of retirement from competitive wrestling. Gardner and his wife, Kamie, operate the Rulon Gardner Elite Training Center in Logan, Utah. I gotta make some changes.. Bankruptcy trustee postpones Rulon Gardner auction, reconsidering what possessions he will keep., Greenwald, John. Gardner was the first contestant ever to . But he also knows he cant risk pushing them away. After that its club season until April, followed by tournaments and clinics through the summer, not to mention occasional speaking engagements across the country. They look at the picture and Rulon says, Now you tell them, if you dont hit your numbers this month, you know whos coming around. High school wrestling coaches ask Rulon to look into their camera phones and deliver motivational speeches for their teams. Rulon Gardner. The film immediately follows broadcast coverage of the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials ( full TV/stream schedule here ). [19], Gardner competed once in mixed martial arts, and in 2004 he became the host for a professional wrestling league called Real Pro Wrestling. He says some, many of whom gain back considerable weight after they leave the show, feel the experience ruined their lives. He again cuts a hulking figure, now situated behind a desk in a Dri-FIT, long-sleeved black athletic shirt, gray slacks and black sneakers. Gardner achieved world notoriety in 2000 when he stunned Russian Greco-Roman legend Alexander Karelin to win the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. Hes the keynote speaker. I feel that my personal goals have been reached here on The Biggest Loser, and its my time to go home. He is from . There are rows of pull-up bars and headshots of wrestlers whove qualified for the Utah state tournament in years past. Link to: Home Valuation / Home ValuationHome Valuation To put it in perspective, Rulon Gardner was a first-timer at the Olympics that year. His second great grandfather was Archibald Gardner,[3] who was one of the early settlers of Star Valley, Wyoming. This time Gardner stayed upright, and the two massive men danced chest-to-chest through a scoreless three-minute first period. The Star Valley Pioneer and History Museumin Afton, Wyo. April 28, 2011, 9:25 AM PDT. Someday those details may come out. A Golden Opportunity: Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner visits Elko., Ramsey, David. Warr, a senior with braces on his teeth, clutches his practice partners foot two feet off the ground and stares back with rapt attention as Rulon discusses technique. Thankfully, Rulon's mom and dad were always telling him that with prayer and persistence he could find the strength to do anything. Gardner, now a 51-year-old, wants to compete again at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Ironically, Gardner's bid for a third Olympic appearance fell short because he was five pounds from making weight during the U.S. trials in April 2012. Rulon has never dwelled on the negatives in his life. After the Athens Olympics, Rulon had gained 210 pounds, culminating in total body weight of 474 pounds. After reaching his competitive training weight, Rulon chose to leave the show in support of his wife and to begin the next chapter of his life. In episode 17, he arrived at the group weigh-in wearing his cut-off yellow T-shirt, jogged up a flight of stairs, turned to face his fellow contestants, clasped his hands behind his back and announced: This is gonna be my last time on the scale. All those people who told me I could never get here and get on this stage, Im going to show them. The finals are a spectacle. In 2001, Gardner added a world championship to his list of accomplishments with a victory in the finals over Mihaly Deak-Bardos of Hungary. Its the last official day of the season, but Rulon says now the work really starts. He earned a football scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This is their moment, and he wants to let them have it. They grew close during the show, expressed mutual love for each other as they hugged goodbye in Rulons final scene and spoke a few times in the years that followed. Its like hes sitting in the strongman booth at a carnival and they want to document his strength. But despite being the most recognizable face in the gym, one of the most eventful parts of his day is when a tournament official informs him that he has to wear his credential. He hopes now that the high school season is over, he can refocus on himself. After the referee raised Gardner's arm as victor, the modern-day "Alexander the Great" walked off the mat for good, immediately retiring from the sport he had controlled for 15 years. Martinez is a Utahn and three-time NCAA qualifier at Clarion in Pennsylvania who also went 153 as a pro martial arts fighter. I was a good wrestler, but I want to be a better coach than I ever was as a wrestler.. ], Cara Castronuova was a trainer on the show for only one season, which happened to be Rulons. He graduated from the University of NebraskaLincoln with a bachelor's degree in physical education. It takes the lower half of his body a little longer to warm up in the morning, and he happened to roll his ankle two or three times yesterday. Gardner became famous as a Wyoming farm boy, but his Mormon family has ties back to Utah for generations. A Project of the Wyoming Historical Society. Rulon's wrestling career began when he was six years old. The three men swam for more than an hour in 44-degree water to reach the shore. I got my health back, I got my fitness and I got my life back. Rulon Gardner is living a quiet life, just the way he likes it. He loves working with kids to help them achieve their greatest success. "This is my last time on the scale," Gardner said during the episode's weigh-in. However, the future Olympian did not immediately command his sport on the farm or even at Star Valley High School. Theres a circle in the middle where the action takes place, and each wrestler gets one corner with chairs for two coaches. And thats the story that he stuck to for nine years. American Olympian who competed in the 2000 Olympic games in Greco-Roman wrestling, winning a gold medal in the 130 kg weight class. The car has logged a lot of miles, and in some ways come out a little worse for the wear, but it just never seems to quit. 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