Gardner Survives Again.

Off Topic
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Gardner is one of my favorite all time olympic athletes. Apparently he has nine lives…and used up a few already!

Olympian Gardner survives small plane crash
Posted: Sunday Feb 25, 2007 10:10 PM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -Olympic wrestling champion Rulon Gardner and two Utah men were rescued by a Lake Powell fisherman Sunday after surviving a small plane crash near Good Hope Bay the day before.

Gardner was a passenger in the Cirrus SR 22 along with pilot Randy Brooks and his brother Leslie Brooks, according to a news release from Becki Bronson, public information officer for Garfield County. The plane was flying low when it struck the water and all three men were able to get out of the plane before it sank.

Authorities are uncertain of the exact location of the crash, but the three men swam for more than an hour in 44 degree water before reaching shore and then spent the night without shelter, according to the release. None suffered life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

"It takes only about 30 minutes for someone swimming in 44 degree water to start suffering the effects of hypothermia, so the fact that they swam in it for an hour, not to mention surviving the plane crash and the night without fire or shelter, is pretty amazing,‘’ said Steven Luckesen, a district ranger at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. "If these guys were a cat with nine lives, they just used up three of them.‘’

Gardner and the Brooks called a relative to take them for medical attention in American Fork.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, Bronson said.

Gardner pulled one of the most stunning upsets in Olympic history at the 2000 Games, winning the gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling by ending Alexander Karelin’s 13-year international winning streak. In the 2004 games in Athens, Gardner won the bronze medal, and in wrestling tradition, left his shoes on the mat as a symbolic way of announcing his retirement.

This is not the first time, he’s survived a life-threatening accident. In 2002 he became stranded while snowmobiling in the Wyoming wilderness and lost one of his toes to frostbite, and in 2004 he was struck by an automobile while riding his motorcycle

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Remind me to never go on a trip with the guy.

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Jeez.

Some people’s luck…

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Heard about this on the radio on the way to the gym today. The article fails to mention that he also impaled himself with an arrow and pierced his abdomen during show-and-tell when he was in the third grade.

One of the sportscasters asked the other, “Would you consider him lucky or unlucky?” (looking at his life as a whole, not just this one incident).

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I remember when he won the gold, that was awesome. I didn’t know about all his accidents, that’s crazy!

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Conclusion: Cornhuskers are badasses.

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Karelin has the KGB after him.

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Read his biography “Never Stop Pushing” if you get the chance. Awesome guy.

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[quote]Jillybop wrote:
I remember when he won the gold, that was awesome.
[/quote]

Yeah, a wrestler leaving their shoes in the middle of the mat at the end of their last match is one of the cooler things in sports.

Also, I swear I saw him doing a Pride fight on tv. Could one of the 5 million MMA experts on this site confirm that, or was I seeing things?

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[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
Jillybop wrote:
I remember when he won the gold, that was awesome.

Yeah, a wrestler leaving their shoes in the middle of the mat at the end of their last match is one of the cooler things in sports.

Also, I swear I saw him doing a Pride fight on tv. Could one of the 5 million MMA experts on this site confirm that, or was I seeing things?[/quote]

He left his shoes on the mat in 2004 after winning the bronze. The gold was in 2000.

He fought Judo gold medalist Yoshida in Pride some years back and stomped him good. He has not fought since, however.

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I’m pretty sure someone is trying to assassinate him at this point. Either that or he’s living out the movie Final Destination.

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Yeah I caught this yesterday as well.

Dude is a survivor for sure.

Jim Rome said “yeah, there’s no killing this guy, that’s a given.”

I remember when he left his shoes in the ring in Athens. Very cool moment.