Word: karelin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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They called it the "Miracle on the Mat" when Rulon Gardner of Wyoming defeated Russia's Alexander Karelin for Olympic gold in Greco-Roman wrestling earlier this year. Gardner, who had only enjoyed moderate success in his career, beat a man who hadn't been scored upon in ten years...
Gardner, 29, an unorthodox wrestler, pressed up against Karelin, 33, to prevent the Russian from using the Karelin Lift, his signature move. No points were scored in the first round. During the second round, Karelin amazingly unclenched his hold, which earned Gardner a point under Greco-Roman rules. Shocked judges reviewed the videotape of the moment. "He made a mistake, and I got a lucky call," said Gardner, who explained that the seeming impossibility of winning allowed him to grapple more conservatively. "He was the one who had to go out and win the gold medal. I would have been...
...farm where you just go forward and get the job done," he said. "Even though I wasn't thinking I was going to win, I was going to work as hard as I could." The only other time the two met, in a 1997 world-championship round, Karelin obliterated him. "When he threw me, my feet almost hit the back of my head. That's not a good thing," he recalled...
...took over Russia, plutonium slipped into suspect hands, and the Balkans exploded, but the worst side effect of the end of the cold war is that beating the Russians has lost its meaning. If this were 1968 and an oversize farm boy from Afton, Wyo., beat Alexander Karelin, a giant 286-lb. Russian Greco-Roman wrestler who hadn't lost a match in 13 years, then Rulon Gardner would have his own Wheaties...
...Still, without the politico-global resonance, the Miracle on the Mat will never get the attention of the U.S. hockey squad's 1980 victory over the U.S.S.R. "I hate to bring politics into wrestling. It's two great wrestlers from two good countries," said Gardner right after the match. "Karelin is a world-class individual. I told him, 'You're still the best. There's nobody close to as good as you are.'" It almost makes you long for the Cuban missile crisis...