IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Rulon Gardner’s coach says the 40y-year-old heavyweight trained like a madman to get back to the Olympics.
But Gardner says his body told him to stop cutting weight just hours before he was set to weigh in for the Olympic Team Trials.
Gardner says he reached 269 pounds Friday before he realized he’d been pushing himself too hard to reach the 264.5 pound limit for his weight class. Gardner declined to weigh in, ending his quest to reach the London Olympics.
Gardner won the gold medal in Sydney in 2000 and bronze in Athens eight years ago before gaining nearly 200 pounds after retiring from wrestling.
U.S. national Greco-Roman coach Steve Fraser says Gardner trained harder than anyone else on the team over the past few months.
