It was the evening of September 30, 2000 in the Darling Harbor Arena in Sydney, Australia, and all my family, friends, community, and the Nation were hoping that this country boy from Amarillo, TX would be able to accomplish his 16-year dream to become and Olympic Gold Medallist. The stage was literally set for Alexander Leipold of Germany and myself to wrestle for one of earth’s most sought after prizes, the Olympic Gold.

My Coaches Kevin Jackson, Bruce Burnett, and I had watched tons of past video on Leipold studying his every move in hopes of developing a strategy for beating him. I knew he was a heavy left leg lead who didn’t have a solid offensive attack. I knew his forte was defense where he scored most of his points off of counter attacking, and he had a tendency to tire towards the end of each match. Yes, he had some tricks on top, but I wasn’t really threatened. I didn’t get turned at the 2000 Nationals or Olympic Trials and hadn’t been turned in the Olympics thus far, and Leipold wasn’t going to break this streak. I believed there was no one who could turn me. I believed I could turn everyone I wrestled in a gut wrench. So my strategy was:

1. Push the pace without forcing anything to get him tired and called for passivity, which would create gut wrench opportunities (digging under hooks, snap elbow passes, faking shots).
2. If the shot (probably hard double) was there, pull the trigger as hard as possible.
3. Being patient believing the longer the match lasted the better chance I had to win.
4. Do my best and let God take care of the rest!

As I walked onto that mat, I truly believed I was going to win. During the first three minutes there was a lot of hand fighting, and I never saw a great opportunity to attack so I stayed patient. The first period ended 0-0 so we had to go to the clinch to begin the second period. The referee flipped his colored coin, and it landed on blue, which was the color of Leipold’s singlet. Therefore, Leipold had to get his clinch (over and under) lock first. This was my third time to be in the clinch since the Olympic Trials, and I felt confident in my ability to score whether I got to lock first or not. I won my clinch against Dolph in the Trials but supposedly lost the clinch against the Turk in the semi-finals. But, after I watched the video against the Turk, I felt I won that position even though the refs didn’t see it. So I was confident in the clinch, believing I was undefeated in this subjective position.

Leipold reached his arms around me to get his hands locked, but for some reason he wasn’t locking. He kept looking at the ref and acting like I wouldn’t let him get his hands locked. Dolph and the Turk had no problem getting their hands locked in the past clinches, and Leipold’s arms were much longer than those two guys so I didn’t understand the confusion that was taking place. Leipold continued to act like he couldn’t get his hands locked. Finally, he decided to lock his hands, and I locked my hands. Then, we both stood there, hands locked, for almost 5 seconds. What proceeded was a nightmarish debacle I’ll never forget. The ref proceeded to blow the whistle more than once signaling us to stop and release our locks. The refs agreed on giving me a caution for avoiding the lock and rewarding Leipold with 2 points. I was completely shocked thinking this can’t be happening to me in the most important match of my life to date. Giving Leipold 2 points was huge since he rarely ever took a shot, and now with these points on the board, I knew Leipold was not going to take a shot the rest of the match. Since the refs gave me a caution, Leipold got a chance to turn me. I dropped to the mat in par terre position believing I still had a chance to win because, as we know, it’s not over until it’s over.

The ref blew the whistle, and we finally began the second period. Leipold attempted to get his hands locked for a gut wrench, and I proceeded to fight his hands like I always do. Fighting hands is your first line of defense on the mat. If a guy can’t get his hands locked, he can’t turn you. As I fought hands and pulled Leipold’s hands away, he began to scream out in agony. I thought, “You have got to be kidding me. In all my years in wrestling, no one has ever yelled out as I fought hands.” The ref fell for Leipold’s second ruse, slapped my hands, and blew the whistle to stop the match. I couldn’t believe it, but the ref cautioned me again and gave Leipold another point for illegal use of the hands. Within 30 seconds of the second period in the Olympic Finals, Leipold was given 3 points, and I had received my very first cautions ever for wrestling illegally.

I didn’t give up and continued to wrestle hard. But, it was a completely different match now because Leipold had all 3 points that he needed to end the match in regulation. Giving a defensive specialist 3 points is close to giving him the win because he’ll completely shut down and not follow any of your motion. His confidence was sky high, and I had to abandon most of my initial strategy. I forced the action and took a couple of shots that weren’t set up in hopes of getting Leipold called for passive in hopes of getting the chance to turn him, but the refs never called him for passive. With about 40 seconds left in the match, I committed to a shot that wasn’t set up, but Leipold countered my shot and scored his last point.

I lost 4-0. That was my Olympic Finals wrestling match, and the only matches that you can’t protest at the Olympics are the Finals. Go figure. To get the medal ceremonies on TV, they don’t have time to deal with protests. Do I want a pity party and people to feel sorry for me? No way brother! But, I do challenge you to learn the lessons I learned from the agony of this defeat.

1. Life isn’t fair. There are things that are going to happen to us in this life we don’t have control over. Maybe, someone in our family gets cancer, our parents get divorced, a September 11 tragedy rocks our world, or you don’t win when you really think you are going to win. We can’t be angry or bitter and blame God or anyone else. We have to trust God has a plan for our lives and His Will…. will be done.
2. Losing doesn’t come from losing. Losing comes from missing out on the learning, growth, and challenge that lies ahead. As you experience stumbling blocks in your life, you have to learn the important lessons associated to them and turn those stumbling blocks into stepping-stones.
3. Getting the gold and winning by our societies standards isn’t everything. Most people will never know what it’s like to be the best. Does that make them losers? Of course it doesn’t! As long as one gives their best, full, and complete effort with character, that is the true definition of being a winner in life.

As the Silver Medal was refining me, we found out Alexander Leipold allegedly tested positive for steroids, and I was the new 2000 Olympic Champion. USA Wrestling organized a new gold medal ceremony on the Today Show in New York City, and I thank them for that opportunity. The Korean flew over to receive his silver, and the Turk flew over to receive his bronze. The Turk didn’t have a medal before. Boy was he pumped! I did get a chance to sing the Start Spangled Banner and experience the thrill of victory. Was it just as special as it would have been in Sydney? No, of course not, but I am a better man because of the lessons I have learned from the Silver. There are not too many times in life where you a have dream, train to accomplish the dream for 16 years, come up a little short, experience the agony of defeat, dwell on the lessons learned for 3 weeks only to find out you did accomplish your dream, experience the thrill of victory, and learn one of life’s greatest lessons which is there is a Greater Gold to this journey we are all on.

Currently, I travel across the Nation speaking to youth at schools, churches, and doing wrestling clinics. If I would have won the gold medal that night in Sydney, approximately 200,000 youth wouldn’t have heard another strong anti-drug message.

Is it what I dreamed? No, but I trust God did and does have a plan for our lives.









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