Gordy Morgan finished ninth in a field of 20 wrestlers in the Greco-Roman wrestling competition at 163 pounsd or 74 kilo at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.
"We had a good time at theOlympics and saw some fantastic wrestling," Jim and Olive said.
Morgan defeated Rodolfo Hernandez of Mexico by technical superiority (10-1) in the first round. However, in the next two rounds, he didnât fare so well. Morgan lost 10-1 to Feliberto Aguilera of Cuba and 3-2 to Jim-Soo Kimm of Korea. Aquilera went on to win the gold medal.
ãGordy went into the Olympics with an injury from training camp. I thought he could handle his third opponent,ä Jim said, "but as the match progressed he could handle him, but he couldn't score. At one point, the match was stopped and Gordyâs trainers had to tape his foot in order for him to finish the match."
Jim said Gordy had pulled some ligaments in his foot and ankle. Prior to his wrestling, they had taped up his ankle and foot and given him some novocaine to ease the pain during the match.
"Gordy wouldnât admit to us how badly injured he was. John, his brother, said it was a sprain. He wonât use his injury as an excuse for losing, but I think it must have affected his wrestling," Jim said.
"Two days after Gordy returned home, he had an operation on his knee to remove torn cartilage. He is now awaiting surgery on his foot-ankle injury," he added.
The couple said they had nine of their children at theOlympics cheering Gordy on. "The arena was crowded all the time. We had the Polish delegation in front of us, the Germans behind us and the Russians to one side. When one of their wrestlers weren't competing, they cheered for our guys," Olive and Jim said. "They would get all excited during a match and wave their big flags. We could not see anything through the flags. The security guards had to tell them to put the flags away so others around them could see the matches," Jim added.
Jim said the Polish were real friendly people but couldnât speak any English. "That is what the Olympics is all about," Olive said. "People from all over the world coming together in competition and getting along with each other."
The Morgans said the evening wrestling sessions usually ended between 9:30 and 10 p.m. "We'd wait around to see the wrestlers and get some autographs," they said.
The Morgans commented on how hot the temperatures were in Atlanta. "They were selling small bottles of water for $5 each," they said.
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