The Kurt Angle Show - Winning the Gold Medal [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Was your goal when you started wrestling to become an Olympic medalist?

What is the process to get to the Olympic Trials?

I’m not sure everyone knows this...you compete in the national trials and in the semi-finals you come down hard on the mat on your head. So it’s in the national trials you get hurt. Describe the injury...the feeling...did you think it was over?

You’re down 3-0 after that fall with just a minute left and you rally and win! Is it just the adrenaline taking over and your will to win that blocks out the pain?

When does the reality of what just happened to your neck hit you?

Your neck is broken. You have three discs sticking directly into your spinal cord. Was there ever a thought that you need to quit? Too much risk...too much danger?

You still go on and wrestle in the finals to finish a 0-0 judges’ decision which you win and now you’re national champion. That sends you directly to the finals at the Olympic trials and now everyone else has to wrestle to face you for the spot in Atlanta. How satisfying is that feeling knowing how much you overcame to earn that spot?

The next day you go get a MRI. Going into that doctor’s visit, what's going through your mind? Did you think it was maybe just a sprain and you were good to go?

What news does the doctor break to you?

You’re two and a half months away from the olympic trials...what’s running through your mind?

What is the process to get yourself cleared for the trials? What doctor can possibly clear you with a broken freaking neck?

Were you concerned it would get out that you had a broken neck?

You go on to the Olympic trials and win your 2 out of 3 falls final and not long after...as we covered recently...David Schultz is shot and killed. You have all these obstacles...how do you continue on?

You’ve clinched your spot to the Olympics and now you have 6 weeks off to rest your neck. What are your expectations of getting to the Olympics?

Did you have any issues with the pain medications you were using and dealing with?

Novocaine gets you through the Olympics. What is that like to have to shoot up before you start wrestling?

You're in the 220 pound weight class but you weigh in at 211. Was part of this the injury?

At the time the speculation was you & Abbas Jadidi were the favorites as you were the 1995 World Champion and Jadidi won the 93 World Title before losing it due to a doping violation.  But you enter every match to the theme of “Rocky.” Was it in your head that you were the underdog?

There’s 19 competitors. You go into this knowing if you were to become the Gold Medalist you had to wrestle 5 matches in 2 days. Were you physically & mentally prepared for this?

On your first day you defeat Mongolian Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar 4-0 and then 6-foot-8 Cuban Wilfredo Morales Suarez 2-0. Can you explain to our audience who don’t know...what is the scoring like in amateur wrestling and how do you get to these scores?

You get down 3-0 against Russian Sagid Murtazaliyev to rally back to 4-3. Is it starting to set in you have a chance to medal let alone win the gold?

You’re through 3 matches...how is your body feeling?

Your semi-final match is against Kyrgyzstan’s Konstantin Aleksandrov and you get through that rather easily to get to the gold medal match against the Iranian we mentioned earlier Abbas Jadidi. The semi-final ends...the reality of you getting at least a silver medal sets in when?

What did you know about Jadidi going in besides the doping violation?

Jadidi gets an early point just 2:42 minutes in by turning you around. Do you immediately go on the defensive or do you stick to your game plan?

Within 30 seconds you take him down to make it even at 1-1. The match is on YouTube to be checked out and it’s a really good one for people who have never seen it. The seconds wind down and your 8 minute draw is complete. You don’t get right up where Jadidi runs over to the scorers table and sees his name circled on one of the scorers cards and starts celebrating. What’s running through your mind & body at this point?

You stand in the middle with the referee waiting for the decision. Jadidi keeps trying to raise his own hand and the referee is holding it down before raising yours. Jadidi runs over to protest but you hug the referee and then collapse to your knees. Kurt. You’re a freaking gold medalist! What is your first immediate thought?

How amazing a feeling is it after all you’ve gone through that you will be forever known at this point forward as an Olympic Gold Medalist?

How do you think you ended up winning the judges decision?

How important was it for you to win this medal not just for David Schultz, but your family?

It all gets done...what do you do that night to celebrate?

How is your body holding up?

You go on the Tonight Show the next day...you’re getting a ton of mainstream press because wrestling had a lot of publicity from Schultz’s murder...was it everything you expected?

When do you start to think about what’s next? Is professional wrestling even on your radar at this point?