Biggest Upset in Sports History?

[sam majors]

2000 Olympics Rulan Gardner from the United States beat Alexander Karelin in the super heavyweight divison!!
Karelin had won gold in 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics. He won the worlds championship super heavyweight title 9 times. He had never lost a match in international competition. He was the "BABE RUTH" in the wrestling world and a big old farm boy beat him!

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by sam majors

2000 Olympics Rulan Gardner from the United States beat Alexander Karelin in the super heavyweight divison!!

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.

[brian1961]

These last few upsets mentioned are terrific. I loved that one about the big country boy that stuck it to the multiple-Olympic champion Russian.

Thought of another that maybe a few of you wrestling buffs might recall much better than I, since I cannot name the guy who upset-------Iowa's Dan Gable at the 1970 or 71 NCAA Wrestling Tournament match. If memory serves, Gable had been undefeated in college up to this point, and it would have been the final point, as Dan was a senior. Gable picked himself up, and proceeded to flog himself in training for the '72 Olympics. He cleaned the mats up with his opponents, winning the gold. Y'all probably know what he achieved as a college and Olympic wrestling coach. --Brian

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by brian1961

These last few upsets mentioned are terrific. I loved that one about the big country boy that stuck it to the multiple-Olympic champion Russian.

Thought of another that maybe a few of you wrestling buffs might recall much better than I, since I cannot name the guy who upset-------Iowa's Dan Gable at the 1970 or 71 NCAA Wrestling Tournament match. If memory serves, Gable had been undefeated in college up to this point, and it would have been the final point, as Dan was a senior. Gable picked himself up, and proceeded to flog himself in training for the '72 Olympics. He cleaned the mats up with his opponents, winning the gold. Y'all probably know what he achieved as a college and Olympic wrestling coach. --Brian

Yeah, when I saw someone mention wrestling(not WWF), I was about to go Gable too. Gable was 181-0(Gable had also NEVER lost an official HS match either), with 2 National Championships already, heading into the final match of his collegiate career. Larry Owings from University of Washington was the guy who beat him in the 142 lb. National Championship match in 1970. Interestingly enough, Owing had started out the season in the 177 lb class, and decided to cut down to 142. While many other wrestlers in the country were trying to avoid Gable, by either moving up or down a class..

Anyways here's a great old SI article about their match...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...ne/MAG1135499/

[brian1961]

Thanks David, for coming to my rescue on that Dan Gable upset. You were most enlightening, and confirmed it was a much more serious upset than what I remembered. Of course, most of what I remembered was 41 years ago on TV with ABC's great coverage of the Olympics. Dan Gable was profiled, and I recall some of the background of that terrible upset. Seems there was also a close sister that had died tragically that affected him during his wrestling career. Anyway, I will check out the link that you so thoughtfully included.

I don't know why, but I want to remember a dear and great man who was one of America's wrestlers in '72---super heavyweight Chris Taylor. If I miss-spelled his name, forgive me. He was from southern Michigan. A gentle soul, but a determined foe you would not want to face. I believe he took the bronze. I must say this, but for too many stupid, irresponsibly-minded Americans, they think you got to win the gold, or you failed. In any other country, any Olympic medal classifies you as "a master of sports".

Somehow David, I have a feeling you appreciate a jolly good show. Thanks again. Take care. --Brian Powell

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Thanks David, for coming to my rescue on that Dan Gable upset. You were most enlightening, and confirmed it was a much more serious upset than what I remembered. Of course, most of what I remembered was 41 years ago on TV with ABC's great coverage of the Olympics. Dan Gable was profiled, and I recall some of the background of that terrible upset. Seems there was also a close sister that had died tragically that affected him during his wrestling career. Anyway, I will check out the link that you so thoughtfully included.

I don't know why, but I want to remember a dear and great man who was one of America's wrestlers in '72---super heavyweight Chris Taylor. If I miss-spelled his name, forgive me. He was from southern Michigan. A gentle soul, but a determined foe you would not want to face. I believe he took the bronze. I must say this, but for too many stupid, irresponsibly-minded Americans, they think you got to win the gold, or you failed. In any other country, any Olympic medal classifies you as "a master of sports".

Somehow David, I have a feeling you appreciate a jolly good show. Thanks again. Take care. --Brian Powell

Having wrestled in HS and a bit in college, aside from baseball, wrestling is probably the sport I'm most passionate about. Yes, I'll even indulge in watching/collecting pro wrestling(also still perform some backyard stuff for fun) and MMA occasionally just to get my wrestling fix... I won't go too far into my accomplishments, but most notably, I beat a guy who went on to be a member of the US Olympic team. I don't really thrive on it, but I guess it would be my "Al Bundy moment". In one way or another we've all got our own "4 touchdowns in one game" moment..

As far as Gable's sister, she was raped and murdered while he was a sophomore in high school. Here's a quote from Wiki about it...

"Gable later recalled that the event gave him a singular passion for wrestling as a way to uplift his shattered family. In his documentary Gable, he said, "I needed to give them enough entertainment that they didn't have to look other places."

[peterose4hof]

A lot of great responses. I've really enjoy reading this thread!

I especially like reading about the USA upsets; something about seeing the Red, White & Blue compete that gets my blood flowing.

How about the 1996 USA Women's Gymnastics Team winning the Gold Medal in Atlanta?!?!?! The Russian women had won every team gold since 1952 except one (Romania -1984). Facing an uphill climb on the second night of competition, the US Women rode the wave of emotion set forth by a ruckus Atlanta crowd and took advantage of team Russia's missteps on the balance beam to put themselves in prime position for gold. They just needed solid scores on the vault to reach their ultimate goal, but normally flawless Dominique Moceanu fell on both of her attempts putting the US team's gold-medal hopes in doubt. Kerri Strug, fresh off a fall of her own, limped to the line with a mountain of tape on her injured ankle, bounded down the runway, vaulted high in the air, twisting and turning about and stuck the landing securing the gold.

[jiw98]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Thanks David, for coming to my rescue on that Dan Gable upset. You were most enlightening, and confirmed it was a much more serious upset than what I remembered. Of course, most of what I remembered was 41 years ago on TV with ABC's great coverage of the Olympics. Dan Gable was profiled, and I recall some of the background of that terrible upset. Seems there was also a close sister that had died tragically that affected him during his wrestling career. Anyway, I will check out the link that you so thoughtfully included.

I don't know why, but I want to remember a dear and great man who was one of America's wrestlers in '72---super heavyweight Chris Taylor. If I miss-spelled his name, forgive me. He was from southern Michigan. A gentle soul, but a determined foe you would not want to face. I believe he took the bronze. I must say this, but for too many stupid, irresponsibly-minded Americans, they think you got to win the gold, or you failed. In any other country, any Olympic medal classifies you as "a master of sports".

Somehow David, I have a feeling you appreciate a jolly good show. Thanks again. Take care. --Brian Powell

Chris Taylor was from Dowagiac, MI. He wrestled at Muskegon Community College before going to Iowa State. He was a big deal around here at MCC. (no pun intended) He left us way too earlyat age 29.

[glynparson]

The Russian he beat was undefeated and I believe no one had even scored on him in a greco roman match. Or something close to that.