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Originally Posted by sam majors
2000 Olympics Rulan Gardner from the United States beat Alexander Karelin in the super heavyweight divison!!
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This. Maybe not big for those outside the wrestling world but this may have been the biggest upset in sports history. Karelin was literally in a class all by himself. Think Edwin Moses good. Secretariat good. Usain Bolt good. Karelin was even better than that in his sport.
In hindsight it doesn't look like such a big upset but Maria Sharapova beating Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final in straight sets was pretty shocking at the time.
Largely forgotten, Belarus knocked perennial hockey powerhouse Sweden out of the qualifying round of the 2002 Winter Olympics 4-3 after having been outscored 22-6 in its three previous games. Belarus had one NHL player on the team while Sweden had virtually an NHL All-Star team.