9781422284308

GREATEST MOMENTS

Perfection for Gable

Iowa’s Dan Gable went into the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich with an impeccable reputation, an undefeated season, and an injured knee. The gold medal hopeful in the men’s lightweight (68 kg [150 lb]) division of the freestyle wrestling competition had torn the cartilage in his left knee earlier in the season, but he refused to have surgery because it would derail his training.

Gable’s decision to forgo the operation turned out to be the right one. Not only did Gable win all six of his matches to win the gold medal, but he also did not concede a single point to any of his six opponents. He beat the world’s best wrestlers on one leg despite the fact that the Soviet Union had vowed they would produce someone who could beat him at the Munich Games. He beat the Soviet Ruslan Ashraliev in the final match.

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