Jake Varner’s ankle pick served him well when he captured an Olympic gold medal in London. John Sachs photo. Continued from page 12
still in college. He reached the quarterfi- nals of the 2009 World Championships in Herning, Denmark. Varner came back to make his second
World Team in 2011, and captured a bronze medal at the World Championships that year in Istanbul, Turkey.
He followed with his memorable per- formance this past August in London, when he stormed to an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling at 96 kilos. “It was one of the greatest feelings I’ve had in my life, especially after finishing third in the World the year before,” he said. “I wanted to win a World title (in 2011) and it sucked when I finished third. I made sure I did what I needed to do to win the Olympics. I lived right and I trained right. It all paid off when I got my hand raised. It was an amazing feeling to win that gold medal.” Varner has made numerous appear-
“Jake’s focus needs to be the same thing as last year and go through the same steps. Winning gold is a similar process each year – train, get better, compete, eat right, get good rest, and minimize travel that isn’t training or competition-related. If he does that, he will achieve his goals again.”
- Zeke Jones U.S. National Coach
ances around the country after his his- toric win. He was honored in his home- town of Bakersfield, Calif., and during a ceremony at Iowa State in early February. He also made appearances in New York City and Los Angeles. “Each day, it sinks in more and more what I’ve done,” he said. “It is exciting to know that you’ve accomplished your life- long dream and goal. It’s been a lot of
fun.” Varner won in London despite not being the favorite in his weight class. “You hear who people are picking to win, and you hear all that stuff,” Varner said. “None of that means anything when you go out there and compete. I think they picked guys based on how they placed the year before and that’s fine
Continued on page 14 13 USA Wrestler
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