Despite an injured right hand that required the insertion of pins, Rulon Gardner works out with Khoran Papayan at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in May. Gardner will defend his Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in Athens, Greece this summer. (Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)
No. 6. Rulon Gardner
He was the miracle man in Sydney. The small town giant who convinced millions of Americans that yes, there actually is something called Greco-Roman wrestling. Gardner's defeat of the unbeatable Russian mountain Aleksandr Karelin was the upset of the Olympics in 2000. He became an instant hero. Then bad things began to happen. A snowmobile mishap in 2002 left him stranded in the snow. The frostbite he suffered led to the amputation of a toe.
He was thrown from a motorcycle this year -- not wearing a helmet on his famous head -- and then injured his wrist playing pickup basketball.
Ah, well. He'll be back to the safer world of wrestling soon, trying to defend one of the least likely gold medals in history.
