Rulon Gardner will try to prove his 2000 victory was not a fluke by winning Greco-Roman again.
Rulon Garnder, the crew-cut, chubby-cheeked farm boy from Afton, Wy., stunned the world by beating the legendary Aleksander Karelin of Russia to win gold in the heavyweight class of Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Olympics.
Gardner's 1-0 overtime victory over the three-time Olympic gold medalist was considered one of the sport's greatest upsets. Karelin, who had never lost in international competition, retired after that bout.
If Gardner thought winning that gold medal was tough, try doing it again.
That's what is being asked of him now.
Instead of basking in the glory of his monumental victory, Gardner decided to put off retirement in hopes of becoming the first American to win two golds in Greco-Roman wrestling.
To defend his 2000 gold, Gardner has had to battle his opponents and health.
So far, he has conquered both.
Gardner overcame a near-tragic snowmobile accident in 2002 that left him stranded 18 hours and resulted in the amputation of his frostbitten right middle toe.
In March, Gardner was involved in a helmet-less motorcycle crash that tossed him 30 feet in the air. He escaped with minor bruises, only to dislocate his wrist playing a pickup basketball game three days later.
The wrist injury was so severe Gardner had stabilizing pins placed in his hand and wrestled one-handed during his loss to Dremiel Byers at the U.S. Championships in April.
He shook off that loss and beat Byers at the U.S. Olympic Trials in May. Last week, Gardner took first at the Pytlasinski tournament in Warsaw, Poland, his first Greco-Roman international title in three years.
ABOUT THE SPORT: Wrestling was one of the original events in the ancient Olympics and was included in the first modern Olympics in 1896.
The sport has two styles: Greco-Roman and freestyle. Greco-Roman, which does not allow holds from the waist up, was the only style used in the first two modern Olympics. Freestyle first appeared in the 1904 Olympics and permits the use of a wrestler's arms and legs for holds or to defend against an attack.
LADIES FIRST: Women's wrestling will make its debut and was the only sport added to this year's games.
The United States and Japan have dominated international competition. They have the best chance of winning gold in the sport's four freestyle classes. Japan won three of the four gold medals at the 2003 World Championships.
Toccara Montgomery (158.5 pounds) and Patricia Miranda (105.5 pounds) are the top U.S. contenders.
The addition of women's classes reduces the men's classes from 16 to 14 - seven freestyle and seven Greco-Roman.
WILL CAEL HAIL OR FAIL?: Former Iowa State standout Cael Sanderson finished his collegiate career 159-0, becoming the only wrestler in collegiate history never to lose a match all four years.
His perfect record ended once he ventured outside the college ranks.
Wrestling internationally for the first time in 2003, Sanderson took silver at the World Championships.
Now, he's trying for gold on the sport's biggest stage.
Sanderson makes his Olympic debut in the 185-pound freestyle class. His biggest challenge will come from Russia's Sazhid Sazhidov, who beat Sanderson in the finals at the 2003 World Championships.
WORLD'S BEST: Bulgaria's Armen Nazaryan is trying to become the fifth Olympic wrestler to win three gold medals and second to win in three different weight classes in Greco-Roman.
Nazaryan won his first title in 1996 at 52 kilograms for Armenia. It was the country's first gold medal. He left his homeland to compete for Bulgaria in 2000 and won the 58-kilogram class.
This year, Nazaryan will wrestle in the 60-kilogram class.
DID YOU KNOW?: The International Olympic Committee is considering eliminating one of the two men's styles beginning in 2008.
-- Information from nbcolympics.com was used in this report.
