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Thursday, October 12
Afton welcomes its wrestling hero
Associated Press
AFTON, Wyo. -- Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner, once a
portly kid ridiculed by childhood bullies as "fatso," was
heralded as a hero in a homecoming that drew thousands from
throughout the surrounding scenic mountain valley.
Gardner, a hulking man as big as he is gentle, paraded Thursday
through the downtown of this western Wyoming community where he
grew up in celebration of his Olympic gold, which he won by pulling
off one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.
|  | | Rulon Gardner was moved to tears upon his hero's welcome back home Thursday. |
"This medal is not mine," he said, holding the gold off his
54-inch chest. "This is all of our's."
Gardner, who said he uses the childhood insults as motivation,
won the Greco-Roman wrestling heavyweight gold last month at the
Sydney Olympics by upsetting Russian Alexander Karelin, the Zeus of
world wrestling. Karelin had not lost an international match in 13
years until Gardner's 1-0 victory.
Gardner, who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the
Olympic training facilities are, became an instant national and
international celebrity.
"Still a lot for me to swallow, all these experiences," he
said. "When I left for Sydney, it was just me. When I came back I
was an Olympian. It's great."
His gold medal hanging from his thick neck, Gardner drove from
his farm outside of town up to the edge of the community of 1,630
in a tractor. He rode into town on a fire truck, dismounted as
thousands of red, white and blue balloons were released, and walked
with an American flag down the five-block-long downtown.
Lining the middle of the four-lane street wetted by morning snow
showers were children, friends, neighbors, acquaintances,
out-of-town hunters and residents from up and down the valley, all
bundled up against the chilly mountain air.
The 6-foot-3, 286-pound Gardner then was hoisted on a thronelike
chair on two long poles called a "Greco Roman coach" that was
carried by former high school wrestlers and coaches. He was dropped
off at a stage set up on a street between a car dealership and
convenience store-gas station and against the backdrop of a
mountain originally known as Gardner Peak after Rulon's
great-great-grandfather, one of the original valley settlers.
During a 20-minute speech that began with him choking back tears
until he decided to "put on his game face," Gardner thanked his
family, coaches and all the valley residents.
"When I want to find happiness and find a place where I know
everybody loves me, I come back home," he said to cheers.
Gardner's feat has left an impression on the entire Star Valley,
a 45-mile stretch of land touted locally as the "Little
Switzerland of America" and consisting of about a dozen small
farming towns and some 8,500 residents.
"It's an honor," said 18-year Afton resident Carla Lowe.
"He's brought honor to all of us people. I couldn't be more proud
of him if he was one of my own kids."
Until now, the main claim of Afton, one of only three
incorporated towns in the valley, was a huge arch made out of elk
antlers spanning its main street.
Six-year-old Travis Long, a portly kid himself from Afton,
probably summed up best how the rest of the nation and world see
Gardner.
"He's tough."
Following the hour-and-a-half long ceremony, Gardner walked a
few blocks to the Star Valley High School for a press conference
where he talked about his future and taking his wrestling to a
level "where Karelin is" and see "how big the fire burns inside
of me."
Before the press conference, he stopped in at the school's gym --
just big enough to fit a basketball court and stage into.
"That old little gym in there," he said.
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