Gable fired up for Olympic Trials in Iowa City

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Wrestling legend Dan Gable has spent the last 40 years working to grow the sport that has defined his life.

Supporters won’t need to look at the statue that will be unveiled in Gable’s honor in this college town to see the ultimate payoff for those efforts.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Carver-Hawkeye Arena next weekend before what is expected to be the largest crowd in the event’s history. Organizers have already sold more than 10,000 tickets, surpassing the record crowd of 9,434 set 12 years ago in Dallas. The hope is that the 15,000-seat gym might sell out.

The overwhelming enthusiasm for wrestling in Iowa has been spurred by four decades of work by the 63-year-old Gable, a former Olympic gold medalist and phenomenally successful coach turned motivational speaker and ambassador for the sport.

“We have a good crowd base, and we would hope that because of that it’s a bigger deal,” Gable said. “The impact that we have here, we want it to be able to carry through the next Olympiad and maybe even the next one.”

The fans coming next week will walk by a 7-foot bronze statue of Gable, which will be unveiled on Wednesday.

The Waterloo, Iowa, native went 182-1 in prep and collegiate competition at Iowa State.

He won a world title in 1971 and didn’t surrender a point in winning gold at the Munich Games in 1972.

He went on to become one of the most successful coaches in NCAA history, in any sport. He led Iowa to 15 national titles, a .944 winning percentage and the Big Ten crown in each of his 21 seasons as head coach. He stepped down in 1997.