Kurt Angle Pulls Out of Olympic Trials

**wwefan13** · 04-12-2012, 04:15 PM

Source: wrestlinginc.com

Kurt Angle announced today on his Twitter account that he has pulled out of the Olympic trials.
"Due to Hamstring@Knee Injuries, I'm forced to Pull Out of trials," Angle wrote. "Had a talk W/ Usa Wrestling Coach Zeke Jones Who has Supported Me all Year

"I trained Extremely hard for a full Year. I'm Very Disappointed. I want to thank All the fans for Ur Support. U Motivated Me.

"I Must focus On TNA and Lockdown Ppv, Which Has Always Been My 1st Priority. I Hope to Be Able to Put On the Best Performance I Can. TNA Has Supported My Olympic Dream Since the Day I Approached Dixie Carter about My Quest for Gold! Thank You.

"I injured My MCL in My Knee. The Doctors Say It's a partial tear which will take 4-6 Months w/ rehab. I Will have It Heavily Protected at Lockdown. I've Had Prior Knee Injuries More Serious than this @ Still Won Ncaa's but I Must Put My Job in Tna 1st. Again, thank You all for Us Support. Your Prayers and Support Have motivated Me to Put On the Best Performance I Can at Lockdown, Considering My injuries.

"As Zeke Jones told Me, We Were Hoping that Father time Would Hold Off Until After London Olympics. Unfortunately It Hit Me Hard 1 Month Prior to Olympic trials. Thank You to All My training Partners,Especially Edinboro Univ Wrestlers and Coach Tim Flynn and Tony Dipietro. Training for Gold and Wrestling for #ImpactWrestling at the Same time took it's toll. I'm Still Proud that I Went 4 It at age 43.

"Thx to All the fans Who Supported Me! I Will Heal and focus On What I Do Best and that's Perform for all Of You. GOD Bless!"

**Save_Me.Y2J** · 04-12-2012, 05:04 PM

Not much to say but who honestly didn't see this coming? At Kurt's age, getting back into the Olympics was a long-shot to begin with.

**tman105** · 04-12-2012, 05:35 PM

is no one else going to say it? do i have to be the guy? sigh.......alright

publicity stunt

**Darth Shizzel** · 04-12-2012, 08:24 PM

Ok so he pulls out with a leg injury guy nexer should've tried to get back into it he would never be picked over over the in prime guys.

**PantherScott** · 04-12-2012, 09:43 PM

In a way you can't blame him for trying. He sees all these young bucks running around, they're doing stuff he once did, so the guy wants to prove to himself that he can still hang. I mean it's gotta feel like a reminder of the past when someone mentions that he won the gold with a broken neck. Of course he's going to want to recapture that memory. Was it wise? No. Anyone could have told him that this was dangerous to try and he shouldn't.

Unwise, but understandable.

**Kid Kash** · 04-12-2012, 11:35 PM

Originally Posted by tman105

is no one else going to say it? do i have to be the guy? sigh.......alright

publicity stunt

Yep. Just like him talking about going to MMA in the past

Never gonna happen

**Turley** · 04-13-2012, 12:15 AM

agreed, this whole thing was to get Angles name in the news. I dont believe for one second that this was a realistic option. The amateur game is for young men.

**tman105** · 04-13-2012, 07:28 AM

I dont mind at all that he wanted to try. by all means. i thought it would be cool and a neat story for some of the guys he was facing. go in, almost certainly lose, shake some hands and bring cameras to amateur wrestling, leave and get on with your life

my problem is i cant help but wonder if he ever really was going to try at all. that injury came at quite the opportune moment and it seems strange that he would say TNA was his #1 priority the whole time. it makes me think he was never really going to do the Olympics, which is disappointing.

and its also a personal dissapointment for me because amateur wrestling could use all the camera's it can get at this point.

**Kid Kash** · 04-13-2012, 07:37 AM

Didn't he just tear his hamstring? I am struggling to walk at the moment because I've pulled up sore from a beach run I did yesterday. Where am I sore? Hamstring...it'd take some bloody good pain killers for me to be able to do anything phsyical right now let alone for Kurt to be able to do anything with a torn hamstring. What a BS artist this bloke is

**Goldie79** · 04-13-2012, 07:42 AM

I think Kurt pulling out would be for the best.

Its a longshot winning Gold at the age of 43... and pulling out will likely save him being embarassed by younger, fitter athletes.
He can still retain his boast of being a 1996 Olympic Champion.... being a failure in 2012 would have hurt this aura

**pumpt73** · 04-15-2012, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by Darth Shizzel

Ok so he pulls out with a leg injury guy nexer should've tried to get back into it he would never be picked over over the in prime guys.

First, wrestlers aren't picked, they have to wrestle their way onto the team. Next, why all the hate??? Had he stayed healthy and maybe wrestled well enough to become an alternate, or dare I say, win his class and make the team, you all would be licking his boots. At 43, yes, it was longshot for him to beat out some of the talent in his class, but who's to say he wouldn't have?? I commend him for training his butt off to even earn a chance at the trials. There aren't many wrestlers in this world who can say they've even made it that far. Well done Kurt.

**Kid Kash** · 04-15-2012, 06:01 PM

He was never going to put his arse on the line. Just like he will never fight in MMA.

**tman105** · 04-15-2012, 06:01 PM

well pumpt, technically he could have been sitting on his ass eating cheetos the whole time. past olympians automatically get a spot in the trials, so he never really had to "earn" his spot in the same sense as most of the other guys who are in the trials.

i would give him props too if he had actually gone, but he didnt so i wont. i give more props to guys who actually went to qualifiers and failed to qualify for the trials than Kurt.

**Mighty Boosh** · 04-16-2012, 11:38 AM

I don't know, obviously it was a long shot but so was winning the gold medal with a broken neck. I don't think Angle gets enough credit for that, sure he gets credit for winning the gold but I think we often overlook the fact he did it with a broken neck, I doubt anyone else could done it.

I think the big problem is he continued to wrestle for TNA, had TNA showed footage of him training they could have still benefited plus Kurt could have devoted more time to training. If he really worked his ass off he'd at least stand a chance, rather than be older than his opponents who have even trained harder.

I'm not saying this whole last minute injury isn't fishy, but it would have been interesting to see him go for it.

**Shockage** · 04-16-2012, 12:39 PM

Kurt Angle really let his kids down. thank goodness they still have mama Karen and papa Jeff Jarrett to look up to.

**womenwrestlerfan** · 04-16-2012, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by pumpt73

First, wrestlers aren't picked, they have to wrestle their way onto the team. Next, why all the hate??? Had he stayed healthy and maybe wrestled well enough to become an alternate, or dare I say, win his class and make the team, you all would be licking his boots. At 43, yes, it was longshot for him to beat out some of the talent in his class, but who's to say he wouldn't have?? I commend him for training his butt off to even earn a chance at the trials. There aren't many wrestlers in this world who can say they've even made it that far. Well done Kurt.

You know what? I agree with you on that, and plus, I can't say as I blame him and I commend Kurt Angle for not being afraid to admit it

That shows a lot of guts

**Goldie79** · 04-17-2012, 07:54 AM

I don't think anyone is knocking Kurts guts .... I'm just happy that he hasn't competed... because failure would hurt his aura after bragging so much about being a winner for the past 13 years!

**pumpt73** · 04-17-2012, 01:02 PM

It wouldn't hurt anything. Why are you going straight to failure Goldie??? Anything can happen when you step on a mat, ANYTHING. I'm not saying Angle would have won, but you don't know. Even if he didn't make the team, I don't think anyone would say he's a failure. His name is in the books and nothing can take it away.

**MartelFlair3** · 04-17-2012, 03:52 PM

I heard that Devon "Hannibal" Nicholson chanlenged Kurt into an amateur wrestling match. Nicholson made it to second place in the canadian team olympic trials. But what makes it more interesting is that Nicholson have a similar injury if not worse. Here's the video of the challenge.

**Kid Kash** · 04-17-2012, 04:06 PM

LOL that's terrible.

**MartelFlair3** · 04-17-2012, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Kid Kash

LOL that's terrible.

Agreed Kash

**Goldie79** · 04-17-2012, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by pumpt73

It wouldn't hurt anything. Why are you going straight to failure Goldie??? Anything can happen when you step on a mat, ANYTHING. I'm not saying Angle would have won, but you don't know. Even if he didn't make the team, I don't think anyone would say he's a failure. His name is in the books and nothing can take it away.

I was talking about it Kurts wrestling character... the brash, arrogant persona who has boasted and boasted about his olympic success for years and years. If he went again and didn't win... those boasts wouldn't have the same ring to them.

Of course winning an Olympic gold is a fantastic achievement. There was no knock whatsoever on what he achieved in 1996.
But you see it all the time in sport.... guys trying to relive the dream when they are old.
Muhammad Ali is the perfect example... to some, Ali losing to Larry Holmes was the saddest spectacle seen in sport

**pumpt73** · 04-17-2012, 06:33 PM

His boasts would still ring true. The championship is already etched in stone. First, he would have still had to qualify for the team before even getting onto a mat in London. The problem with Kurt is he hasn't trained exclusively for this over the years. There have been plenty of older wrestlers to do well in their careers, however, they never strayed from training. Alexander Karelin and Buvaysa Saytiev immediately come to mind. I fail to see how not qualifying for an Olympic team 15 years after winning a championship and not training exclusively for the event would hurt his persona.

**pumpt73** · 04-17-2012, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by MartelFlair3

I heard that Devon "Hannibal" Nicholson chanlenged Kurt into an amateur wrestling match. Nicholson made it to second place in the canadian team olympic trials. But what makes it more interesting is that Nicholson have a similar injury if not worse. Here's the video of the challenge.

HOLY HELL!!!! TNA would be wise to get this guy into training ASAP. Probably the best promo I have seen in the last 15 years.

**MartelFlair3** · 04-17-2012, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by pumpt73

HOLY HELL!!!! TNA would be wise to get this guy into training ASAP. Probably the best promo I have seen in the last 15 years.

Its funny that you say that because he is a graduate from the Hart family Dungeon and is a pro wrestler himself who did very well in his amateur wrestling career