Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
Rulon Gardner - Wrestling Hero
Up next
June 11, 2020
9 minutes
Available for over a year
At the 2000 Olympics, American Rulon Gardner pulled off the greatest shock in the history of modern Greco-Roman wrestling when he beat the Russian Aleksander Karelin. Karelin had not been defeated for 13 years and had already prepared a party to celebrate his latest gold medal. The win made Gardner a hero in America and is credited with sparking a boom in the popularity of his sport. He talks to Ashley Byrne. The programme is a Made-in-Manchester Production.
PHOTO: Rulon Gardner (Getty Images)