At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Rulon Gardner was set to face Russian wrestling behemoth Aleksandr Karelin in the final of the super heavyweight division. The same Aleksandr Karelin who was 59-0 in the Olympics and world championships and had not lost a match since 1987.

Gardner, on the other hand, made his major international debut at the 1997 Worlds, where he met Karelin in the semifinals. The Russian used his trademark lift three times in defeating Gardner 5-0, prompting the affable American to say, "I had never flown before so I thought it was pretty cool."

The farm kid from Afton, Wyoming was hardly an intimidating adversary for the three-time gold medalist. But after surviving the first period 0-0, Gardner managed to score a crucial point, bringing an end to the Karelin dynasty and capturing one of the most surprising upsets in Olympic history.