If there’s anyone who knows about hard work, dedication, and overcoming insurmountable obstacles, it’s Kurt Angle.
A six-time world champion with WWE and six-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Angle’s public career began with him winning an Olympic gold medal in 1996 with “a broken freakin’ neck.”
However, as any Olympic-level athlete can tell you, the work begins far before that.
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“For me, it was really stressful because I had the broken neck and I knew that I was under a lot of distress,” Angle said in an exclusive interview with Newsweek Sports.
“I knew the chances for me to win an Olympic gold medal were dwindling because when I injured my neck, I was told by a doctor that I couldn’t compete, that I was done wrestling.”
Fortunately, Angle got a second opinion that allowed him to head to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he narrowly beat Abbas Jadidi for the gold by judges’ decision.
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As well as the physical and mental struggles that came with the serious injury, Angle also delved into the financial difficulties of being an Olympic athlete.
“When I was training for the Olympics, I put on spaghetti dinner fundraisers. I sold autographed photos, I sold autographed t-shirts, and I had sponsors step up for me. I made ends meet,” Angle explained.
“It’s not that I made a lot of money, but I made enough that I could focus on my training and competition and not have to work for a living.”
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“I want the same for these athletes today,” Angle continued. “Countries like Russia, China, and many other countries, their governments pay their Olympic athletes to train and compete full time.”
“Their athletes don’t have to get jobs, don’t have to make a living. All they have to do is train and compete and they’re taken care of. We don’t have that luxury here in the United States.”
This means that US Olympic athletes have to split their focus between training and working to make ends meet, giving them a disadvantage against opponents from other countries.
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Because of this, Angle is raising money and awareness in order to help these athletes get by and focus on representing our country on a global scale.
“If you want the United States of America to continue to dominate like they have been in the overall medal count — they’ve been placing in the Top 3 for the past four years — If you want them to continue to do that, we’re gonna have to do our part.”
If you’re interested in supporting these incredible athletes to achieve their goals, head over to KurtAngle.org to make a donation.
