VIDEO – GREAT INTERVIEW –
Aug. 9, 2024 – Olympic wrestling is underway in Paris. Angle took home the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. As Angle constantly reminded fans during his WWE interviews, he won with a “broken freakin’ neck.” “It’s the granddaddy of them all. I mean, if you’re going to win anything, the most difficult tournament to win is the Olympics, in wrestling or any other sport. “I didn’t let the good times soak in — the opening ceremonies, staying in the Olympic Village. I was on assignment. I was going to do my job. And that was win an Olympic gold medal. And nothing was going to stop me from doing it,” Angle said. “So I kind of didn’t have as much fun as I should have. But I look back now and I’m like, man, I wish I would have enjoyed it a little bit more. But, you know, in return, I did win the gold medal, so I’m happy with that.”
Angle said that leading up to the Olympics, he trained up to three times a day, up to 10 hours — Sundays were an “off-day,” only training twice.
“It’s a lot of time and a lot of energy put into the sport,” Angle said. “It’s a busy day. It’s your life. It’s what you do.”
Angle trained with the Foxcatcher team, which subsidized Angle’s training and living expenses.
“I was able to focus just on my training. I didn’t have to get another job. I was able to do this and not have to worry about making money at that particular time. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was enough for me to live on,” Angle said.
John du Pont funded the team, focus of the 2014 “Foxcatcher” movie. Du Pont murdered coach David Schultz — Angle’s trainer. Angle said he’s watched the movie “many times.”
