SYDNEY, Australia — LDS Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner, 29, defeated three-time gold medalist Alexandre Kareline, 33, of Russia, 1-0 in overtime Sept. 27.

The win, one of the biggest upsets of the Sydney summer games, marks the ninth time in the history of the Church that a Latter-day Saint has garnished a gold medal.

One day earlier, on Sept. 26, Laura Berg drove in the winning run in the United States 2-1 gold-medal softball victory over Japan. Berg became the eighth Church member ever to win gold — an honor she first received in the 1996 Atlanta games.

Wrestling in the super heavyweight division, Gardner, a Wyoming native, was not expected to win. His Russian opponent, called the Siberian Bear, was unbeaten in international competition, dominating at nine world championships and three Olympic games.

A three-time national amateur champion, Gardner was invited to participate in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, but was disqualified from competition when he misunderstood weigh-in times and missed his opportunity by 22 seconds. The member of the Colorado Springs 5th Ward, Colorado Springs Colorado Stake, also wrestled at Ricks College where he won the National Junior College Athletic Association championship his sophomore year. (Please see article in Sept. 23, 2000, Church News.)

Berg, a member of the Downey 3rd Ward, Downey California Stake, graduated from Fresno State University in 1998. She shares a love of softball with her twin sister, Randi, who plays in the Women's Professional Softball League.

Her parents, Harvey and Lynn Berg, watched the gold-medal game from their home in California. "It was thrilling," said her father. "They had some adversity over there and battled through it. After losing three straight games they came back and won the whole thing."

Berg, currently the assistant softball coach at Fresno State, dedicated her Olympic experience to her fiance Eric Kidd, said Brother Berg. Kidd was recently paralyzed from the chest down after an in-home wrestling match with friends turned tragic.

Other Church members have also excelled in the Sydney Olympics.

Salt Lake City native Courtney Johnson of the United States' women's water polo team won a silver medal Sept. 23 — after her team lost the gold-medal match to Australia 4-3.

As of press time Sept. 27, both Jason Pyrah and Amy Christensen Palmer had qualified for the Sept. 29 track and field finals in the 1,500 meter and the hammer throw. Charlene Tagaloa, a member of the United States volleyball team, was scheduled to compete Sept. 28 in a semi-finals match against Russia. — Sarah Jane Weaver