him to the mat for a three-point takedown that made him the first African-American wrestling gold medalist in Olympic history.
1992 The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were celebrated in Barcelona, Spain. Due to the end of the Cold War, these were the first totally boycott-free Games since 1972. The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own teams for the first time since 1936. The other Soviet republics competed under the name "Unified Team." John Smith repeated his Olympic gold medal performance from 1988, joining teammate Bruce Baumgartner and George Mehnert as the only American wrestlers in history to win two Olympic gold medals in wrestling. Throughout his international
career, Smith won an unparalleled: • Two Olympic gold medals. He was the first American to do so in 80 years, and both of his golds came against the world's best.
• Four World titles. No other American has won more than three.
• Six consecutive world-class championships. No other American has won more than two in a row.
• Two gold medals in the Pan American Games, in two attempts.
• Two gold medals in the Goodwill Games, in two attempts.
• Five national freestyle championships, in five attempts.
the 181.5-pound freestyle final. Forty- six seconds into overtime, Jabrailov got in deep on a leg attack while Jackson worked furiously to counter, forcing the two wrestlers out of bounds. Jabrailov's coach, two-time Olympic champion Ivan Yarygin, argued that Jabrailov had control of Jackson and deserved a match-ending point. The officials decided otherwise, and Jackson eventually secured a double-leg takedown to win the gold. Jabrailov, distraught, had to be pushed onto the medal stand by Yarygin, but he refused to put the silver medal around his neck. Kevin Jackson's "can do" attitude fueled wrestling achievements from the time of his youth to two World Championships and an Olympic gold medal.
After finishing seventh in the 1991 World Championships, Bruce Baumgartner was not a favorite to win a medal in Barcelona. But Baumgartner proved the critics wrong, shutting out two former World champions to advance to the gold medal match. The then 31-year-old easily dominated Canadian Jeff Thue, 8-0, in the finals. Four years after his silver medal performance at the Seoul Olympics, Bruce Baumgartner's gold medal in Barcelona put him into the record book as the first American wrestler to ever medal in three consecutive Olympic competitions.
1996
Unified Team's Elmadi Jabrailov wrestled to a scoreless tie through regulation of
American Kevin Jackson and the
1992: Bruce Baumgartner's gold medal in Barcelona put him into the record book as the first American wrestler to ever medal in three consecutive Olympic competitions.
The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, were considered instrumental in transforming Atlanta into the cosmopolitan city it
is today. The Atlanta Olympics
followed the financial model established in 1984 in Los Angeles. The cost to stage the Games was $1.8 billion. The city relied on commercial sponsorship and ticket sales, resulting in a profit of $10 million. A record 197 nations took part, with 79 of them winning at least one medal. Before taking the mats in Atlanta, two-time Olympic Wrestling Champion Bruce Baumgartner was honored by his fellow athletes to be captain of the USA Olympic Team and carry the American flag for the opening ceremonies. To kick off the Games, Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch and received a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
The wrestling competition in Atlanta was marked by who was not competing. U.S. wrestlers, saddened by the loss of Dave Schultz, who had been tragically murdered earlier that year while training for the Olympic Trials, were on a mission to win—win they did. The United States led the wrestling medal standings with eight, including
Cross, Tom Brands and Kurt Angle. Cross, who had finished sixth in the 1992 Olympic Games, was determined to qualify for the team in 1996, but in order to do so, he had to out-wrestle Terry Brands, a powerful, two-time World champion, in a series of history-making matches. Each clash at the team trials in Spokane, Washington, was spectacular, with Cross edging out Brands
freestyle golds from Kendall
JUMP TO PAGE 18 FOR A VIDEO OF BRUCE BAUMGARTNER leading the U.S. Olympic Team contingent into the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Games.
THE GOLD STANDARD
NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM |
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