Kurt Angle is giving the Olympics another go around. For those who don’t remember, the former WWE star competed in the U.S. Olympics in 1996 and won the Gold Medal despite wrestling following a broken neck.
In the 1996 Olympic Games, Angle won the Gold Medal in the heavyweight weight class, beating Iranian Abbas Jadidi by decision after wrestling to an eight-minute draw. Two years after his Olympics win, Angle joined the WWE and went on to become one of the promotion’s biggest stars.
Now wrestling with WWE rival, TNA Impact Wrestling, Angle is planning another run at the Olympics. At the age of 43, he has been training for the Olympics for seven months already and is sure he will make the team or be an alternate. It is also smart not to count Angle out, despite the fact he would be the oldest competitor on the team.
By the age of 26, Angle won the Junior World Championship, NCAA Championship, World Championship and an Olympic gold medal. Only three other people in history have ever accomplished all four of those tasks. Despite his advanced age, the wrestler has accomplished enough in his life to make him a good bet.
TNA Impact Wrestling has stood behind Angle’s dreams of returning to the Olympics. With the weekly shows pre-taped, he gets 25 days a month off to train for his return to freestyle amateur wrestling. Angle mentioned that, in the three Olympics since he won the Gold Medal, there were various reasons he did not compete.
In 2000, he had just joined the WWE, in 2004, he broke his neck again, and in 2008, he went through a messy divorce. He said that in 2011, he had a really good, healthy year and believed it was time to give the Olympics one more try.
If Angle wants to make the Olympic team, he has to place in the top three in April 2012 at a qualifying event in Iowa City. The competitor that places first represents Team USA in their weight class. Whoever finishes second or third is the alternate.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has been a professional wrestling fan since the rock and roll days of the 80s. Shawn watched all the promotions, but held an affinity for the more rugged ones in the Mid South and Dallas focused World Class regions. He still watches wrestling today, enjoying the WWE, TNA and ROH, watching all three on television weekly.
Source: New York Post