Word: heavyweights
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...same carnival-like atmosphere. For a TV watcher, this spectacle makes for great viewing. Watch some javelin during the lull between 100-m heats. Cut away to the Aquatic Centre, where Fu Mingxia, triple gold medalist, will dive for China. Flip to a few rounds of the legendary Cuban heavyweight fighter Felix Savon. Here's Marion Jones--she wants to be the first woman to win five track-and-field golds in one Olympics--warming up for the long jump, but before she leaps you can thrill to Ian Thorpe--"Thorpedo"--Australia's 17-year-old swimming sensation. Then there...
Humans have even less of a chance against Karelin, 32, a super-heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler who has won gold medals in each of the past three Summer Games. In fact, the Siberian native has never lost in international competition. His streak extends 13 years, an astounding record. No wonder Karelin is a bogatyr--a folk hero--in Russia, where he represents his home town in the Duma (the Russian parliament) and holds the rank of colonel in the customs police...
...Greco-Roman wrestling, which doesn't allow a competitor to take down an opponent by attacking his legs. That places a premium on lifts and throws. Such tactics are common in lighter weight classes, but Karelin--"King Kong" or "The Experiment" to fellow wrestlers--is the only super heavyweight with the strength to hoist a 290-lb. foe and fling him to the mat, in a maneuver the Russian calls a "reverse body lift." To execute it, Karelin locks his arms around the waist of an opponent, then lifts the wrestler like a sack of potatoes and, arching his back...
...rigors of politics will help wear Karelin down. They note that his matches have got closer of late, with the Russian winning by 1-0 and 2-0 scores. "I truly think he's beatable," says Steve Fraser, national coach of the U.S. Greco-Roman team and a light-heavyweight gold medalist in 1984. Fraser says Rulon Gardner, America's No. 1 super heavyweight, will try to outwork Karelin and exhaust him on his feet. (Ghaffari is an alternate...
...Savon isn't merely a good boxer; he's a heavyweight, which in Cuba makes him the defender of a legacy. When the big men fight for Olympic gold, you can expect to see a Cuban in the ring. The legendary Teofilo Stevenson won three straight Olympic golds (1972, '76 and '80), and Savon is determined to join him in that exclusive corner...