Published: April 18, 2008 12:18 am            

Baumgartner to join U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame

Bruce Baumgartner, a four-time U.S. Olympian and NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion at Indiana State in 1982 is among a distinguished group to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame

The induction ceremony will take place in Chicago on June 19.

Joining Baumgartner on this prestigious list are: Joan Benoit; figure skater Brian Boitano; boxer Oscar de La Hoya; volleyball player Karch Kiraly; equestrian J. Michael Plumb; basketball athlete David Robinson; swimmer Amy Van Dyken; shooter Lones W. Wigger, Jr. and Paralympic swimmer John Morgan.

Figure skating coach Carlo Fassi will be inducted in the coach category, along with Olympic figure skating gold medalist Carol Heiss Jenkins in the Veteran category. The members of the 1996 women’s gymnastics team — Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps and Kerri Strug — will be honored in the Team category.

“It’s a fantastic honor. [U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer] Jim Scherr, who was a teammate of mine, called me [earlier this week] and gave me the news. There are a lot of great Olympians who have not yet made the Hall of Fame.”

“To be recognized and elected to the Hall of Fame, this is a great, great honor,” Baumgartner said in a USA Wrestling press release.

Baumgartner is one of only eight U.S. Olympians to win medals in four different Olympiads. He won his first gold medal in wrestling at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He won a silver medal in 1988 and a gold medal in 1992. At the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Baumgartner was elected U.S. flag bearer and U.S. Olympic Team captain.

In his last Olympic Games, Baumgartner won a bronze medal.

In 2002, he was selected as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Baumgartner was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998 and also became enshrined in the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2002 as an institutional great. At ISU, Baumgartner was an NCAA Division I National Champion in 1982, posting a perfect 44-0 record that season. He tallied a 134-12 collegiate mark while at ISU.

Baumgartner becomes only the second wrestler to be inducted in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, joining the legendary Dan Gable with this tremendous honor.

In addition to his Olympic success, Baumgartner won nine World Championship medals during his career, giving him an amazing 13 career World and Olympic medals in wrestling, the most in history. Included were three World Championships gold medals.

For many years, he served as the head wrestling coach for Edinboro (Pa.) University, where he now works as the Director of Athletics.

        

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