Ten Forgotten Olympic Triumphs (Part V)

9.    “You could hear a pin drop”

In the first week of October 1968 the world descended on Mexico City to begin the Olympics. The year had been an especially traumatic one for the U.S. At the end of January, the North Vietnamese army had launched a major offensive that had led to weeks of fighting and many Americans no longer believed the war could be won. At the end of March, President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection. Four days later longtime Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King had been shot dead on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, causing riots across the country. Then on June 5, Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy had been gunned down in California. By the time the Democratic National Convention arrived in Chicago in August, tensions were extremely high. As delegates argued over the candidates inside, outside anti-war protesters shouted against the war and the establishment. On August 28, police suddenly charged into the crowd and began beating them. The violence took place over several minutes as cameras rolled and the footage was soon shown around the world. Inside, several delegates hearing the fighting began accusing Chicago Mayor Richard Daley of causing it and various groups on the convention floor looked about to fight each other. The Democratic Party was imploding.

By the time the Olympics began, most Americans were numb and wanted to forget about politics and troubles overseas. For the first few days all went well, as medals were handed out with so sign of trouble. Then on October 16, American Tommie Smith won the 200 meter run, with teammate John Carlos coming in third. As the medal ceremonies began, both men walked to podium with their shoes off, Smith wearing a black scarf and Carlos with his track coat unzipped. The two later explained that this was to show solidarity with the black poor. This in itself would have been controversial. But it was what they did next that got them in real trouble. As the “Star Spangled Banner” began to play, Smith raised his right fist while Carlos raised his left in a black power salute. Immediately, boos began to echo across the stadium. Smith and Carlos were ejected from the remaining events and ordered to leave immediately.

All eyes now turned to the remaining black athletes, as people wondered what they would do. Among those immediately swarmed by the press was 19 year old heavyweight boxer George Foreman.

Born in Houston, Texas, Foreman had grown up in the in 5^th Ward, reputed to be the poorest section of the city. Uninterested in school, he had dropped out and fallen in with a street gang. “I was a teenage thug really,” Foreman would remember years later. Foreman exhibited a fiery temper, broke into houses and got in fights.               

However, things began to change when Foreman decided to join the Job Corps. Soon he had his degree, but his anger continued to be problem. Nearing expulsion, Foreman was saved when local boxing coach Doc Broadus agreed to begin training him. Slowly Foreman began to show skill in the ring and started winning fights. Still he was not sure if he wanted to pursue boxing as a career. Finally, Broadus explained that Clay and Frazer had become national celebrities after winning their gold medals; if Foreman got serious, he could compete at that level and if he won, would be lifted out of poverty. For the next year Foreman trained hard, fighting 18 times, winning all but one match and also acquiring a reputation for a savage punch.

Easily making it onto the U.S. Olympic team, Foreman remembered, “When I got a chance to really go to the Olympics, I knew then that I was a prime representative of the American team.” He quickly defeated each of his opponents, making it to the gold medal fight. In his way stood Jonas Čepulis, an experienced fighter from the Soviet Union. At the time of high Cold War tensions, the fight took on special political as well as racial meaning. In the first round, Foreman came out hitting Čepulis with repeated right hooks and left jabs. Soon blood was spilling out of Čepulis’ nose. While the Russian landed several good blows, he could not match the damage the American was causing. After starting round two, the referee stopped the fight. Foreman had won, but what would he do? As he retired to his corner, a hush fell over the crowd. Broadus, who was on hand for the fight, remembered, “Everybody was sitting there tensed; you could hear a pin drop.” Foreman took off his gloves, grabbed something and headed back out the center of the ring. To the delight of the crowd, he held out a small American flag and bowed to each side of the ring.

Overnight, Foreman became a national hero as pictures of him were flashed around the world, and he was even invited to the White House to meet President Johnson. Foreman would go on to become heavyweight champion and later a very wealthy grill salesman. On the other hand, Smith and Carlos were largely shunned by advertisers and had only brief NFL careers before slipping mostly into obscurity. Sometimes it is not so much the odds or the prize, but the symbolism of the moment that makes a victory memorable.

10. Facing “Alexander the Great”

In 2000, the world’s athletes came to the continent of Australia, this time to the city of Sydney. While many expected the U.S. team to do well in track, basketball, baseball, and several swimming events, few contemplated the sport of wrestling. This was because beginning in 1987, then 20-year-old, six-foot-three, 286-pound Alexander Karelin had won every international event he had entered and defeated every opponent who stepped on his mat. Karelin had become a hero to the Russian people and gained a reputation as an unstoppable machine. Sydney would be Karelin’s fourth straight Olympics and as usual he expected to bring home another gold medal. 

Expectations for American Rulon Gardner were far different. Born in Afton, Wyoming, Gardner had been raised on dairy farm. Like everyone in the family, Gardner helped his parents with manual labor, often lifting heavy bales of hay. However, he had a hard time in school. In kindergarten, Gardner had been placed in special needs for time. Taunted for his inability to read as he got older, Gardner had sought an escape in sports, taken up wrestling and begun winning. By the time he graduated high school, Gardner could still only read at a 5^th grade level, and against his teachers’ advice applied and was accepted to Ricks College in Idaho on an athletic scholarship. He later transferred to the University of Nebraska to be on their wrestling team. To the surprise of many, he completed his studies and earned a degree in physical education; Gardner had done nothing to distinguish himself in sports, held no major wrestling titles and had placed only fifth at one major tournament. Undaunted, he tried out for the U.S. Olympic team and was accepted.

When he arrived in Sydney, Gardner made a splash when he announced to the press that after months of hard training he believed he was good enough to go up against Karelin. Few put any stock in his claims and called him cocky. As the wrestling competitions began, one by one Gardner beat each of his opponents until he found himself in the gold medal round with the man called “Alexander the Great.” Many spectators and analysts believed Karelin would make quick work of the American. They had good cause to think so; in 1997, Gardner had gone up against the Russian and lost 5-0. Not only had he lost, but he had been picked up three times, and at one point Karelin had thrown his entire body weight on Gardner’s neck.

Now, the gold medal match began. Karelin raced into and tried to lift Gardner again; but each time he did, Gardner refused to budge. Trying to find a better hold in the second round, Karelin’s hand slipped for brief second. It was enough; for the first time in six years, he had allowed an opponent to score a point. For the rest of the round, the Russian tried again and again to find some way to earn a tying point, but Gardner continued to stop him. Because only one point had been scored, the match went to overtime, one final chance for Karelin to win. But as the clock continued to tick down, Karelin became frustrated and clawed at Gardner’s face. Finally, with just seconds left, Karelin stood up and let the clock run out.

Wild chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” instantly filled the arena as Gardner grabbed an American flag and raced around the mat. Overnight, the victory hit newsstands like a bombshell and he became a celebrity and hero of the games.

After the match, Karelin announced his retirement from wrestling and went into Russian politics, where he continues to serve to this day. Gardner attended the games in 2004 and walked away with a bronze medal. Missing the 2008 games, he attempted a short lived comeback in 2012. Failing, he announced his retirement. Today the famous match has been largely forgotten by the public, but among wrestling enthusiasts it remains the biggest upset in the sport’s history.