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USA Wrestler: You were on four different Olympic Teams, and the coaching staff was different for each. What role did the Olympic coaches make in helping you win? Baumgartner: The great thing about them is they put so much time and effort into the team for so many years. It wasn’t a big switch. All four Olympic head coaches were involved heav- ily going in. A lot of the success of the USA team had to do with the consistency of the coaching staff. The personal coaches were outstanding as well. You can’t forget the National Coaches, Stan Dziedzic, Lee Roy Smith and Bruce Burnett, who ran the entire program.


USA Wrestler: What role did your family play in the Olympic


preparation process? Baumgartner: Without the support of my wife, Linda, and my mom and my dad, I would never have been able to reach the accomplishments I did. To train like you must to be an Olympic champ, and I also had a full-time job then too, it takes a special kind of person. Linda was always there for me, as were my par- ents. It made it possible to compete.


USA Wrestler: Were there Olympic Games you felt better


prepared, and what were the factors in those differences? Baumgartner: I felt confident going into every one of them I would win. I had extra positive feelings about Barcelona. I did terrible in 1991. I felt for Barcelona I had great preparation, good training, went in healthy and it felt good. I felt least pre- pared for Los Angeles. I didn’t have experience. I was a one- time World medalist and won Tbilisi, so I was still confident. I didn’t have much background, and my body was not fully devel- oped yet. Even in 1996, when I was 35 years old, I thought I was well trained, ready to go and would win.


USA Wrestler: How did things change for you when you were on the ground at the actual Olympic Games, or did they not? Baumgartner: I did it different than most. I only watched one event a year at the Olympics. In 1984, I saw gymnastics. I saw the Dream Team in 1992. I’m not sure what I saw in 1988 or 1996. I went over for one reason, to wrestle. I trained. I relaxed. I spent a little time with my family at their hotel. I didn’t sightsee. I went to Seoul, South Korea but didn’t see anything until I was done wrestling. It was the same at the others. Freestyle was always at the end of the Games also. I just focused and stayed fresh.


USA Wrestler: Did you like being at the Olympic Village and around athletes from other sports? Baumgartner: I liked the Olympic Village. It’s cool. You are sitting there eating, and three rows over is Russia, Cuba or Venezuela. It was fun mixing with the athletes. There was enter- tainment, good food and shopping there. I really enjoyed the Olympic Village experience.


USA Wrestler: How did the team aspect of wrestling help at the Games and was it important to have a close relationship with teammates? Baumgartner: We had great camaraderie. There were some rivalries between different schools, but there was a high degree of respect within the freestyle team. Our teams had outstanding people. We got along really well. You are working with outstand- ing freestyle wrestlers. When we get together now, there are a lot of great memories. You always wanted the best for them.


USA Wrestler: Did you have a favorite Olympic Games?


Baumgartner: Every country did a phenomenal job hosting the Olympics. In Atlanta, carrying the flag was special, and I had an upset win at the end to get the bronze. To win that match the way I did summed up my career. Hard-nosed, sucking in that leg to get the takedown. In my career, I wasn’t as talented as others but I was hard-nosed. In Barcelona and L.A., winning was fantastic. The best tournament I ever wrestled, by far, was Barcelona. I had one point scored on me. I shut out the return- ing World champ and the returning Olympic champ.


USA Wrestler: I’d like your first thoughts about each, starting with the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles? Baumgartner: It was renewal. It was the first commercializa- tion of the Olympics. It was after Montreal, which had struggled. The media was getting into it. There was Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses. It was brand new. I was 23 years old and a relative newlywed. It was a great time. It was the birth of the Olympics into a new era.


USA Wrestler: 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul? Baumgartner: It was real interesting. I realized at the Olympics how big the Olympic Games is. At that event, they were trying to transform a country. The South Koreans did a nice job, but they were a different culture and ideology than us. In some ways, it was more rigid. It was different, but a super time. I didn’t like the outcome, losing 3-0 in the finals.


USA Wrestler: 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain? Baumgartner: As structured as South Korea was, in Spain it was very free flowing. The Spanish people were friendly. It was a comfortable place to be. I enjoy most places I’d been in, but I really enjoyed Barcelona. All of the Olympic venues were phe- nomenal. It was easy to be yourself and to perform. That is what I did in the wrestling venue. That is when I wrestled my best.


USA Wrestler: 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta? Baumgartner: Carrying the flag is the biggest honor in


sports, being captain of the Olympic team. I really appreciated it. I felt such pride that night. With so much bad publicity Atlanta got, it ended up being a great Olympics. You could get around a bit there. The big drawback was the Centennial Park bombing. You were in the USA, so it was easier for the U.S. team. Spending time with President Bill Clinton was awesome. It was the final stop of my career and I knew it.


USA Wrestler: Do you still get excited when it is an Olympic


year, like this year? Baumgartner: I like the Olympic year. I’ve been watching the Olympic Trials and following things. I am an Olympic junkie. I enjoy watching the sports on TV. I wish I could go over, but that’s not in my cards right now. It is interesting. I get to do more appearances during the Olympic year and I try to accommodate them. I am more in the background now. But occasionally you hear from people who bring up facts and information. It amazes me that only a handful of people did what I did – winning medals in four Olympic Games.


USA Wrestler: How do you think the U.S. will do in London? Baumgartner: I really think we have some strong competi-


tors. The people who rose from the Olympic Trials looked pre- pared and focused.


In some weight classes, we are longshots. In some of those, I hope they can rise to the occasion. I hope and feel we will have a big year.


25 USA Wrestler


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