Gardner on golden quest
ByReuters
Published 24/08/2004 at 08:44 GMT
U.S. heavyweight Rulon Gardner, the defending Olympic champion, won his opening bout in his quest for the Greco-Roman wrestling 120kg gold medal by beating Lithuanian Mindaugas Mizgaitis on Tuesday.
The two giants grappled in the early stages mainly to get a good hold, but eventually it was the surprisingly nimble Gardner who managed to sneak in and gain an advantage over the leaner-looking Mizgaitis.
The American managed to make two scoring moves and end the six-minute bout with a 3-0 result.
Gardner has two more contests on Tuesday and if he wins both will maintain his gold medal hopes.
Gardner, 33, narrowly escaped death when stranded in temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius after his snowmobile broke down in a forest in Wyoming in 2002.
Although he managed to hold on while friends went to call for help, Gardner suffered frost bite and lost a toe.
Gardner caused one of the greatest upsets in the sport when he beat the seemingly invincible Russian Alexander Karelin to win the 130kg gold medal in Sydney.
The 130 kg category has been dropped in Athens to make room for the women's wrestling events.
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