Yet, for all the public exposure, including television and magazine endorsements for vitamins, weight-lifting equipment and running shoes, Gable remains a very private man. Gable can't sleep that night, haunted by McDonough's loss and the losses of every wrestler he's seen in the past few days, even ones from other schools, kids he's never met. He wrestled with a fury his opponents did not understand. . It's as if the statue of Lombardi outside Lambeau Field were forever calling delay of game, demanding his teams keep pressing. Some part of Gable never stopped blaming himself for her death. Jenni thinks the IOC members would change their mind if they came to Iowa. And because of Kathys passion for growing things, there will be three gardens, including an asparagus patch. "A lot of pain. He can rattle off the wrestlers who suffered with him but never got the brief redemption of a championship. A lot of my confidence exudes off me to my athletes. Upset at the Big Ten tournament, he'd thrown his second-place medal in a trash can and stormed off. He is also famous for having only lost one match in his entire Iowa State University collegiate career - his last . What role did the late Roy Carver, the multimillionaire from Muscatine, play in Gables decision to coach at the U of I? Nobody scored on him in Munich, and when he won, he tossed the medal in the bottom of his gym bag. Andrew Cutraro. Danny is the son of Ed and Patty Olszta. His hands twitch. That's bullshit. "It was simple: I wanted to beat the guy who beat me," says Owings. -- Tourette's in reverse -- are followed by growling, intense curses. The Network is a community of wrestlers who help each other in business and in life while supporting the sport that has played such an important role in every member's life. He welcomed the hurt. Dan remembers the noise the phone made, the metallic, guttural rattle. He's soaking after his intense daily workout. I missed seeing his face in the crowd., Gable was 15 when he was hit with what he calls the worst thing that ever happened in my life.. For years, if you saw Gable at a wrestling event, you saw his wife, Kathy, and his four little girls. "This is a new purpose.". Gable is a devoted father and grandfather. Enough! St. John bucks and twists, and with 38 seconds left, he breaks his opponent's grip and takes a 3-2 lead. . It was the prison. He resides in Iowa City, Iowa, with his wife Kathy. She never really had a chance to do the things she loved. Andrew Cutraro, GABLE SPENDS HIS days trying to be useful. . It is one p.m. Dan Gable is lifting weights and punching the heavy bag. AP Images. It is eight a.m. Dan Gable is running several miles on a dirt road. They drove home, and Dan moved into her room, winning 162 straight matches before losing. "What's he doing?" Nobody answered at the house in Waterloo. They're made of sweat . His career molded his family, then welded it together. School administrators worried people wouldn't get it, so after weeks of fighting, they settled on a compromise: (NO) STALLING. Gable heard the whispers and searched for him, hanging at his house until he saw him go inside. She stood in the kitchen that Sunday afternoon and fried the five-pound walleye Dan had caught just hours before. Gable, who lost only one match in his entire college career his record was 181 and 1 admits he has an obsession with fitness. Dan Gable's Home Gym. Then, in 1997, burned out and with chronic pain in his hip, he quit. DAN GABLE PACES suite No. He's always punished weakness with suffering, putting on a war mask for the world and for himself. The Gables measured time in seasons, their world growing as small and insular as Dan's. I make friends, but I never get too close. But an old friend, Mike Doughty, has known Gable for decades. He is an author, motivational speaker, father, and grandfather. He has had to slow down because his knees . He pictures it now: a swaying receiver connected by a creaking metal cord to a box. Carver was definitely an influence on my decision, though. Gable admits that during the first few years of marriage, I was self-centered. It sounds like coachspeak and only makes sense once you've watched Gable watch wrestling. He can be reached at wrightespn@gmail.com. BACK HOME, HE's got a 45-acre spread he's put together in pieces over the years, a place to live out his uneasy retirement. In Des Moines, McDonough is losing, and Dan is in a panic. What drives him at age 34 to work out with the same ferocity that drove him when he first began pointing to the Olympic gold during college? That surprised him. But these days are almost finished. Hidden in his past, before he ever wrestled a match, there's a story most people don't know. Both talk as if theyd like more children. Gable was joined Monday by his 13 grandchildren, his wife Kathy, daughters, Jenni, Molly, Annie and Mackenzie, and sons-in-laws One of Gable's son-in-laws (to his left) was pictured holding three . He sets his feet far apart and leans down toward the mat. She lived in Waterloo then, in high school, and Dan, at Iowa State, sometimes trained in his hometown. Dan Gable's career accomplishments are etched in wrestling lore, from his 1972 unscored-on Olympic gold-medal performance on the mat to his record-setting 15 NCAA titles as wrestling coach (a mark unequaled in wrestling history). "The match changed my . Part of his role with CPOW is helping redesign the rules, an important request from the IOC. When the machine had asked his age, Gable, who is 64, typed in 29, as always, and began attacking the pedals, grinding out frustrations about the IOC and the collapsing Hawkeyes. It's a Sunday afternoon, and he heads down to the basement, which is covered with trinkets from his travels. This year, for the first time since seventh grade, he hasn't spent at least three or four days a week in a wrestling room. Married a decade ago, Kathy and Dan Gable have three daughters, Jennifer, 6; Annie, 4; and Molly, 8 months. Id get hit in the mouth and bite through my cheeks. "I represent a lot of things that I think are good," Gable said. "I didn't get it all," he tells his friends, standing outside of the sauna, leaning in, "but I got a lot. They got a neighbor to go check. President Donald Trump called the championship wrestler and coach "a true GOAT." . It's part of their blood.". Mention her sons career, and she smiles and says, He was ornery when he was a little kid, but I didnt let him get away with anything.. He began competing in sports at an early age, but realized that wrestling was his true passion around middle school when an unfortunate tragedy struck his family. Mack slapped Dan, hard, across the face, then hugged him. First he lost his sister and his perfect record. At age four, Gable became active in the Waterloo Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and participated . After finishing, he walks up a narrow stairwell, toward the lobby of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The girls never actually felt in danger, just that they needed to stay clear. She was the loving wife of Kevin M. Gable with whom she celebrated they're 36th "You want me to be dead in about two years?" It was easier to get financial backing from private sources. Without anyone noticing, he slips out the door into the concourse. "SONOFABITCH!" "His life was his wrestling. He's got to be careful. Kathy Gable: Children: Mackenzie McCord, Jenni Mitchell, Annie Gavin, Molly Olszta: Parents: Mack Gable, Katie . Kathy Gable comforts Dan, talking softly to him, and soon he returns, drying his eyes, trying to explain something he doesn't understand. He leans in and gently kisses her on the forehead. "I had never seen a sunset," he says, and he's laughing at himself, at how he sounds. The bronze Gable isn't lifting his fists in victory, or wagging a finger, but raising his arms in what wrestling fans recognize as a stalling call. Dan was like a race horse he was all psyched up. Gable lost. To the world, he's a champion. He struggles with it. Katie kept bumping her husband, asking over and over what he was hearing. In the central Montana mountains, a paralyzed man and his wife are proving the answer just might be yes. Dan Gable coached Iowa to 15 national titles in 21 years. ABC's Wide World of Sports showed up. His is not a beautiful body. The Gables invested so much in their only remaining child that everything touched by Dan took on a talismanic meaning. Theres not much bad I can say about Dan except that hes a workaholic. His wife, Kathy, stood beside him, beaming . "It's hot," Gable says suddenly. Gable doesn't say anything. ESPN The Magazine This story appears in ESPN The Magazine . U.S. President Donald Trump awarded Gable with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on December 8, 2020. . One night they heard a loud crash; Kathy had asked Dan why he wouldn't kick a wrestler named Rico Chiapparelli off the team if he was causing so many problems, and Gable flipped over the kitchen table. NICE JOB, McDONOUGH!". Gable is on the newly formed Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling. Brad Penrith won an NCAA title for Iowa in 1986, but he needed support from head coach Dan Gable and his wife, Kathy, along the way. The scars on his damaged knees turned bright red and glistened in the blazing sun. He brings it up on his own, and the story trickles out. During a speech not long ago, Gable laughed about the rolling circus that travels with him. All of his angst coalesces into one brief window of agony, on Day 2, during Matt McDonough's quarterfinal match. 2. Now the IOC wants to take away the Olympics. President Donald Trump to award Dan Gable the Presidential Medal of Freedom, wrestling icon tells Register, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I dedicated my career and all my accomplishments to her. My dedication to Diane kept me straighter she was a motivating force. "They might need it," he says. Dan Gable added another award Monday to his hall-of-fame resume. He set NCAA records in winning and pin streaks . Dan loved the look on their faces when he won. Mack dropped the phone. After the run, he drew a circle on the dusty country road and struck a familiar stance against an imaginary foe. There's a wrestling-size hole in his life, and he is always trying to fill it. Gables name is to wrestling what Joe Namaths is to professional football and Muhammad Alis is to boxing. At Carver-Hawkeye, they sat in section NN, seats 1-6, the first two rows. He turns to her for the simplest of questions, such as: "When did my mother die?" Mike Duroe and Doughty watch him compose himself. Kathy is related to Erin Renee Gable and Emily Gable as well as 3 additional people. Dan and Kathy Gable, Iowa City, announce the engagement of their daughter, Molly, to Danny Olszta of New Lenox, IL. Married a decade ago, Kathy and Dan Gable have three daughters, Jennifer, 6; Annie, 4; and Molly, 8 months. An excerpt from our 2014 interview with the legendary wrestler and wrestling coach Dan Gable. They refused. Dan and Kathy Gable met at a party. He later wrestled for Furman University. Piece by piece, he'd been stripped of the things that had kept his demons in check since seventh grade, in the gray cinder block dungeon at West High School. Ask Gables wrestlers what they think of him, and the word theyre most likely to use is attitude., National champion Barry Davis said, The most important thing the coach does is give us a championship attitude he inspires us.. At night, Dan heard the fights, the words burrowing into his memory, where they'd remain forever. Oldest grandson Gable sits in his chair, never taking his eyes off the mats. Select this result to view Kathy J Gable's phone number, address, and more. Andrew Cutraro. He's been vulnerable, raw after the Olympics fight and the Hawkeyes' collapse.