dan gable Flashcards
dan gable accomplishments
born in waterloo, iowa
high school and college wrestler
- iowa state
record 181-1
gold medalist 1972 munich olympics, beat opponents 75-0
gold medalist 1971 pan am games
family trauma
sister diane was raped and murdered when he was 16 years old
- family visited friends over the weekend
dan suspicious of neighbour’s son, john kyle
- kyle confessed after interrogation, sentenced to life in prison
moved into diane’s room, so parents wouldn’t sell the house
became hyperfocused on wrestling as a means to keep his family together
dan gable vs larry owings
believes his one loss made him a better wrestler
beat owings in 1968, then again after his losing match
march 1970: NCAA championships, gable’s last collegiate match
- owings dropped several weight classes to compete against gable
- publicly stated his intent to win against gable, never done before
- gable distracted by attention from media
- since gable had high stamina, owings aimed to beat him through strength
- gable in the lead, lost to owings
dan zang
says america looked up to gable bcs of the vietnam war
feel good story, see someone constantly winning
dan gable post-career
became an immensely successful coach
coached 3 US olympic teams
what caused gable’s success
intensity, work ethic, dedication to training
family trauma
loss against owings
ability to transition from folkstyle to freestyle wresting mid-career
folkstyle vs freestyle
different scoring systems, rules around stalling and takedowns
had to change to freestyle during pan am games
