One of the great things about living in San Diego (and there are many)is who you can run into just doing your day-to-day stuff.
While I was out at one of my favorite San Diego hangouts (Wahoo's Fish Taco-
www.wahoos.com) I ran into one of my Olympic heroes, Rulon Gardner.
And the cool thing is if YOU would like to meet him, he tells me you can hire him as a motivational speaker (how about that for a story!) for your next company event or convention. At the same time he could probably handle the event security at the same time ;).
Check out his resume:
WRESTLING
2003
NYAC Christmas Tournament Champion
Sunkist International Tournament Champion
Pan American Games Silver Medal
USA Wrestling World Team Trials Champion
Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament Silver Medal
Kurt Angle Classic Champion
2001
James E. Sullivan Award - Amateur athlete of the year
USA Wrestling 2001 Male Wrestler of the Year
Gold Medal, World Wrestling Championships
Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, USOC Recipient
World Team Trials Champion, Greco-Roman
Jesse Owens Award
Wyoming Sports Hall of Fame - Athlete of the Year
USOC Sportsman of the Year, only second wrestler so honored
National Champion USA Wrestling 130 kg Greco-Roman
Senior Greco-Roman Championship Belt Series winner
Wins ESPY award for Male U.S. Olympic Athlete of the Year
Recipient of U.S. Olympic Spirit Award
Inducted into Ricks College Athletic Hall of Fame
USA Wrestling Man of the Year
Arete Award for "Superlative Performance"
2000
Olympic Champion, Sydney -- Defeated Aleksandr Karelin
USA Today`s Sports, Winner of "Best Original Score"
Flag Bearer at Closing Ceremonies, Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games, nominated and selected by peers
Named Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year
USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Wrestler of Year
AP Male Athlete of the Year, 6th place finish
The Sporting News "Top 100 Most Powerful" list in sports
1999
Winter Classic Champion
1998
Pan-American Champion
Vantaa Cup Champion, Finland
Senior Greco-Roman Championship Belt Series winner
1997
National Champion, Greco-Roman
World Championships, Greco-Roman, 5th Place, Poland
Senior Greco-Roman Championship Belt Series winner
1996
World Cup Champion, Greco-Roman
1995
National Champion, Greco-Roman
1993
National College Athletic Association Championships, 4th Place
1991
National Junior College Athletic Association Champion
1989
Wyoming State High School Champion, Heavyweight
The best way to reach him is at
GardnerRulon@hotmail.com. Tell him 001 from AutoSpies.com gave you the heads up!