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LOGAN -- He was one of the most well known winners to come out of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Now Greco-Roman Olympic medalist Rulon Gardner is hoping to come out a victor, on "NBC's "Biggest Loser."
Gardner's wife, Kamie, said his people contacted NBC about Gardner appearing on the show, but that he eventually had to go through the same audition process as other contestants.
Kamie said Gardner had some apprehensions about going. "Not as far as actually going, but just as far as people seeing just how much weight he's gained," Gardner said. "He was kind of embarrassed about that maybe a little bit."
He's been in Los Angeles, taping the show, since September. This week, Gardner will return to his Logan home for the holidays, but faces 15-more weeks of taping before returning.
Kamie said she hasn't been allowed to talk to Gardner. They're only allowed to communicate through letters. "He can't say much about anything on the show," she said. "If he does say it, it actually gets blacked out, like they marker it out. They read everything that goes in and out," Kamie Gardner said.
The Gardners run a fitness center in Logan. Kamie said that and his former level of training may give him an advantage over other contestants.
Gardner won Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000 and won a Bronze medal in 2004. In 2002, Gardner survived being stranded in the wilderness following an snowmobiling mishap near his Wyoming home. In 2007, he survived the crash of a light plane in Lake Powell.
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
