Kurt Angle won his Olympic gold medal thirty years ago today and shared his reflections on the accomplishment.
Angle, 57, won the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, defeating Abbas Jadidi in the final.
Angle posted the following on Friday:
It’s hard to believe that it’s been three decades since I stood on that podium, proudly winning the Gold Medal against Abbas Jadidi. Coming from humble I grew up a laborer’s son from Dormont Pittsburgh, I never imagined my dreams would ever come true. This journey has taught me that discipline beats excuses every time. All you need is a dream, and anything is possible. I didn’t just represent my hometown and my college, I proudly wore the colors of the United States of America on my heart, driven by blood, sweat, tears, and even a broken neck. Looking back, if I had the chance to do it all over again, my answer would always be a resounding LET’S GO! Here’s to every athlete dreaming big….never give up, keep pushing, and make your dreams a reality!
He famously did so with a broken neck, as he described in his 2001 book, It’s True! It’s True! Angle stated the injury occurred five months before the Olympics when wrestling in the semi-finals of the U.S. Nationals against Jason Loukides.
Rather than surrendering three points and ducking his head, he was slammed onto his head by Loukides. “I slammed onto the mat right on my head. I felt every crack, crunch, and pull in my neck…I would find out later that I had bulged and herniated two discs, cracked two vertebrae, and pulled four muscles in my neck.” Angle came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Loukides 4-3.
Despite the state of his neck, he defeated Dan Chaid at the Olympic Trials and went on to win the medal months later.
Angle had to deal with the emotional pain of coach David Schultz being murdered in January 1996 by John du Pont and was the subject of the 2014 film, Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo.
