http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/wrestling/news;_ylt=AsQIpYjEibu7KrYIq5Whz87Q1Zl4?slug=ap-wre-mens55kg&prov=ap&type=lgns
By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer 4 hours, 58 minutes ago
USA's Henry Cejudo poses with his gold medal after winning the 55 kilogram division freestyle competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008.
BEIJING (AP)—This Olympic medal, Henry Cejudo said, is for every kid whose life seemed hopeless, who went to sleep hungry, whose parents couldn’t always buy food, let alone Christmas presents.
His medal, the one he wasn’t supposed to win so soon, so convincingly, proves to Cejudo that anyone can do what he wants, and at an early age, if only he wants it so badly nothing else matters. Even if the odds are overwhelming.
Cejudo, the 21-year-old mat prodigy who had never won a match in a world-level senior tournament before Beijing, won the gold medal at Olympic freestyle 55-kilogram (121 pound) wrestling Tuesday.
Two years after U.S. coach Kevin Jackson called him the future of wrestling, the future became the present in a dazzling four-match flurry, making Cejudo the youngest American to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal.
“I always knew I was going to be here,” Cejudo said, his blackened right eye a contrast to the gold medal he clutched tightly. “I watched the Olympics as a kid and I knew I’d be here. It was tough. But it’s all worth it.”
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The tears that fell moments after he defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan 2-2 on tiebreaker and 3-0 gave way to a smile as wide as a wrestling mat, as he realized what he had done. And, too, how he had done it.
American wrestlers are supposed to go to college, then enter the Olympic program when they’re experienced and ready; Cejudo did so at age 17 and is the only wrestler to win a national senior championship before leaving high school.
From high school to the big time, the same path LeBron James and Kobe Bryant took in basketball.
On his day of days, Cejudo all but gave away periods, gambling he’d have enough energy to wear down his opponents in the last two periods, admittedly causing Jackson moments of panic.
“I’m kind of unorthodox,” Cejudo said.
The whiz kid won because he was every bit a wizard against wrestlers older and more wizened.
“This proves that whatever you want to do as an American, you can do it,” Cejudo said.
His parents were illegal immigrants from Mexico who met in Los Angeles. His mother had six kids, four with his father, Jorge, who was in and out of prison until dying of heart problems at age 44 last year. Cejudo never saw him after age 4.
The family was miserably poor, sometimes moving from apartment to apartment under the cover of night because they lacked rent money. His mom worked several jobs at a time, stealing home for a few hours to make sure her family wasn’t in trouble.
Sometimes they stayed with friends, sometimes with relatives, sleeping six or seven to a room in bad neighborhoods, drug deals going on down the street. Always, though, someone was there to offer a helping hand.
One time, Cejudo recalls, several derelicts came knocking at the door. The kids felt threatened and feared the worst, only to have them hand the children badly needed food and drinks.
Henry and older brother Angel emulated the pro wrestlers they saw on TV and the Mexican boxers they revered, and they entered a youth wrestling program in Phoenix. Angel was the first ace, winning four high school state titles, and Henry did the same.
Neither liked studying so, when Angel was invited to the Olympic training center, Henry tagged along and won his last two state titles while living there. Within a year, younger brother was the rising star.
“The deal is, he’s been groomed for this ever since he stepped onto the OTC (Olympic Training Center) campus (in Colorado Springs at age 17),” Jackson said. “I give (coach) Terry Brands the credit for training his mind and body to know he was going to be here one day, and he’s here a lot sooner than a lot of people thought. He’s a kid who always thought he could be special and a world and Olympic champion.”
But winning an Olympics so soon, with so little world-level experience, almost never happens. Cael Sanderson was the only U.S. freestyle gold medalist in Athens, but he had a long and storied amateur career and was a four-time unbeaten NCAA champion.
Cejudo has size, strength, indefatigable energy—he cut 10 pounds in 90 minutes’ time on Monday to make weight—and a personality that believes he can do anything. On Tuesday, he did.
Cejudo’s first match was a tipoff of what was to come as he defeated European champion Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria 0-1, 3-2, 4-3, his first victory on the world level.
Cejudo then beat Besarion Gochashvili of Georgia 1-3, 3-2, 3-0, using single-leg takedowns to get the deciding points in each of the final two periods. He again lost the first period in the semifinals, but rallied to beat Namig Sevdimov of Azerbaijan 3-5, 3-2, 4-3, on another single-leg takedown.
Matsunaga helped by pinning world champion and Olympic favorite Besik Kudukhov of Russia in a major upset, and the Japanese wrestler appeared to lose his edge against Cejudo and didn’t wrestle nearly as well.
Several of Cejudo’s brothers and sisters were there to watch it, including Angel, who, Cejudo said, “made it tough on me, with a few knuckle sandwiches along the way. But he’s the reason I’m here. We won this gold together.”
Their mom, Nelly Rico, didn’t make the long trip but, Henry said, will get the gold medal that he planned to sleep with Tuesday night.
“I’m not letting go of this,” he said, holding it up proudly. “It’s beautiful.”
His something-from-nothing story produced the 125th Olympic wrestling medal for the United States and its 50th gold. Only swimming and track and field, with far more events, have produced more American golds.
“I’m proud of my Mexican heritage,” Cejudo said. “But I’m an American. It’s the best country in the world. They call it the land of opportunity, and it is. Maybe if some other kid watches this, he can do the same.”
The bronze medalists were last year’s world champion, Kudukhov, and Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria
By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer 4 hours, 58 minutes ago
USA's Henry Cejudo poses with his gold medal after winning the 55 kilogram division freestyle competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008.
BEIJING (AP)—This Olympic medal, Henry Cejudo said, is for every kid whose life seemed hopeless, who went to sleep hungry, whose parents couldn’t always buy food, let alone Christmas presents.
His medal, the one he wasn’t supposed to win so soon, so convincingly, proves to Cejudo that anyone can do what he wants, and at an early age, if only he wants it so badly nothing else matters. Even if the odds are overwhelming.
Cejudo, the 21-year-old mat prodigy who had never won a match in a world-level senior tournament before Beijing, won the gold medal at Olympic freestyle 55-kilogram (121 pound) wrestling Tuesday.
Two years after U.S. coach Kevin Jackson called him the future of wrestling, the future became the present in a dazzling four-match flurry, making Cejudo the youngest American to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal.
“I always knew I was going to be here,” Cejudo said, his blackened right eye a contrast to the gold medal he clutched tightly. “I watched the Olympics as a kid and I knew I’d be here. It was tough. But it’s all worth it.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The tears that fell moments after he defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan 2-2 on tiebreaker and 3-0 gave way to a smile as wide as a wrestling mat, as he realized what he had done. And, too, how he had done it.
American wrestlers are supposed to go to college, then enter the Olympic program when they’re experienced and ready; Cejudo did so at age 17 and is the only wrestler to win a national senior championship before leaving high school.
From high school to the big time, the same path LeBron James and Kobe Bryant took in basketball.
On his day of days, Cejudo all but gave away periods, gambling he’d have enough energy to wear down his opponents in the last two periods, admittedly causing Jackson moments of panic.
“I’m kind of unorthodox,” Cejudo said.
The whiz kid won because he was every bit a wizard against wrestlers older and more wizened.
“This proves that whatever you want to do as an American, you can do it,” Cejudo said.
His parents were illegal immigrants from Mexico who met in Los Angeles. His mother had six kids, four with his father, Jorge, who was in and out of prison until dying of heart problems at age 44 last year. Cejudo never saw him after age 4.
The family was miserably poor, sometimes moving from apartment to apartment under the cover of night because they lacked rent money. His mom worked several jobs at a time, stealing home for a few hours to make sure her family wasn’t in trouble.
Sometimes they stayed with friends, sometimes with relatives, sleeping six or seven to a room in bad neighborhoods, drug deals going on down the street. Always, though, someone was there to offer a helping hand.
One time, Cejudo recalls, several derelicts came knocking at the door. The kids felt threatened and feared the worst, only to have them hand the children badly needed food and drinks.
Henry and older brother Angel emulated the pro wrestlers they saw on TV and the Mexican boxers they revered, and they entered a youth wrestling program in Phoenix. Angel was the first ace, winning four high school state titles, and Henry did the same.
Neither liked studying so, when Angel was invited to the Olympic training center, Henry tagged along and won his last two state titles while living there. Within a year, younger brother was the rising star.
“The deal is, he’s been groomed for this ever since he stepped onto the OTC (Olympic Training Center) campus (in Colorado Springs at age 17),” Jackson said. “I give (coach) Terry Brands the credit for training his mind and body to know he was going to be here one day, and he’s here a lot sooner than a lot of people thought. He’s a kid who always thought he could be special and a world and Olympic champion.”
But winning an Olympics so soon, with so little world-level experience, almost never happens. Cael Sanderson was the only U.S. freestyle gold medalist in Athens, but he had a long and storied amateur career and was a four-time unbeaten NCAA champion.
Cejudo has size, strength, indefatigable energy—he cut 10 pounds in 90 minutes’ time on Monday to make weight—and a personality that believes he can do anything. On Tuesday, he did.
Cejudo’s first match was a tipoff of what was to come as he defeated European champion Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria 0-1, 3-2, 4-3, his first victory on the world level.
Cejudo then beat Besarion Gochashvili of Georgia 1-3, 3-2, 3-0, using single-leg takedowns to get the deciding points in each of the final two periods. He again lost the first period in the semifinals, but rallied to beat Namig Sevdimov of Azerbaijan 3-5, 3-2, 4-3, on another single-leg takedown.
Matsunaga helped by pinning world champion and Olympic favorite Besik Kudukhov of Russia in a major upset, and the Japanese wrestler appeared to lose his edge against Cejudo and didn’t wrestle nearly as well.
Several of Cejudo’s brothers and sisters were there to watch it, including Angel, who, Cejudo said, “made it tough on me, with a few knuckle sandwiches along the way. But he’s the reason I’m here. We won this gold together.”
Their mom, Nelly Rico, didn’t make the long trip but, Henry said, will get the gold medal that he planned to sleep with Tuesday night.
“I’m not letting go of this,” he said, holding it up proudly. “It’s beautiful.”
His something-from-nothing story produced the 125th Olympic wrestling medal for the United States and its 50th gold. Only swimming and track and field, with far more events, have produced more American golds.
“I’m proud of my Mexican heritage,” Cejudo said. “But I’m an American. It’s the best country in the world. They call it the land of opportunity, and it is. Maybe if some other kid watches this, he can do the same.”
The bronze medalists were last year’s world champion, Kudukhov, and Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria