On September 19, the legendary Alexander Karelin celebrates his 55th birthday. His impeccable reputation still inspires young wrestlers from all over the world, in St. Petersburg a monument was erected to the hero of three Olympics, and San Sanych is revered in Novosibirsk for his desire to develop the regions.

However, in the life of a great athlete there was a truly dramatic moment that made the whole country cry. He was supposed to make his last Olympics in Australia symbolic, having won the fourth victory in a row, but he failed to establish a unique achievement.

Karelin lost to an upstart from the USA, after which he even had to change the rules.

13 years undefeated and 10th farmer’s child

Of course, every fan has heard the name Karelin. Still, there are not so many three-time Olympic champions in our country. There are two of them in Greco-Roman wrestling: the Soviet wrestler Alexander Medved and, in fact, his namesake Karelin. There is also the owner of three gold awards Buvaysar Saitiev, but he got his victories in freestyle wrestling.

Among these legends, today’s hero of the day stands apart. It was he who managed for 13 years, from 1987 to 1999, not to lose a single fight in the international arena. The victories in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta were unconditional, and before his fourth Olympics in Sydney, our champion did not concede a single point in bouts for six years.

Photo: © Pascal Rondeau / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Naturally, the whole world hastened to crown the already great Karelin long before the start of the Olympic wrestling tournament in 2000. Given that our athlete started the path to gold in Sydney in a classic style for himself, again not losing a single point to anyone, the final duel with Rulon Gardner, although it seemed extremely responsible, should still become a symbolic point of a win-win path for the Russian athlete.

The only meeting before the Olympic final between the American and Karelin ended with a score of 5:0 in our favor, and by that time the 29-year-old Gardner himself did not occupy higher than fifth place in the world. But the Russian opponent had one important quality: he never gave up.

Born into a farmer’s family as the tenth child, Rulon could not hope for due attention and care, so from infancy, survival became literally a daily task:

– I worked with my family in -50 degrees below zero. I could have died several times. First I fell off the tractor and cut my forehead. Later one evening I was run over by a small truck. I then returned home, only left fodder for the cattle. And yet I am grateful for my childhood. Even then, working in the highlands of Afton, the habit of difficulties was formed, Gardner admitted in the podcast of the Olympic Games.

Ambiguous ending

If Karelin’s path to the final was triumphant, then in the story with Gardner it seemed that the American symbolized the image of a black swan, who was lucky enough to change history overnight.

The final bout began with a draw in the first period and, according to the rules then in force, with a score of 0:0, the wrestlers began the second segment with a mutual cross grab. If one of the athletes breaks the grip, then it is he who must hold the reception. If the reception is not carried out within 30 seconds, then the opponent receives one point.

At first, it seemed to everyone, including the judges, that the American pushed Karelin with his head in the chest, but after the video review, it became obvious that the three-time Olympic champion was the first to dissolve the grip. Alexander had 30 seconds to hold the reception after a pause, but the uncompromising and heavy Roll held on with all his might. Subsequently, of course, he will say that these were the most difficult seconds in his life.

Photo: © Inpho Photography / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Surprisingly, the remaining time of the second segment and three minutes of overtime was not enough for Karelin to correct the situation. With five seconds left in the fight, he bowed his head and admitted defeat. 0:1.

Changing the rules

Coincidentally, the mutual trap rule was introduced just before the Sydney Games. Many experts believe that if not for it, then Karelin would have won the fourth Olympics in a row.

Considering that Gardner was warned three times for passivity, in addition to the reputation of our wrestler, Karelin would certainly have won in such a scenario. If Karelin had held the castle for at least a few seconds longer, he would have won too. If Karelin, as he usually did, had thrown Gardner in the first period, when he raised him, he would have won too.

All these assumptions from fans around the world only confirm that our champion got into an amazing story that simply should not have been. But it happened.

Its outcome did not become logical: Karelin ended his career, and the cross capture rule was canceled immediately after the Games. In confirmation of the outstanding qualities and great character of our wrestler, he never once complained about the ambiguous rules, recalling that final. Alexander makes it clear that he lost his last fight himself. But this defeat, which changed the rules of Greco-Roman wrestling, left no less mark on history than the three Olympic victories of Alexander Karelin.