Kurt Angle reveals how he won a gold medal in 1996 with a “broken freakin’ neck”

By Adam D Anglo On Nov 29, 2021

How exactly did Kurt Angle win an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck?

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was a recent guest on Talk is Jericho to discuss a variety of topics. When Chris Jericho brought up Angle winning an Olympic gold medal in 1996 with a broken neck, Angle revealed he broke his neck during the Olympic trials but had no clue it was broken at the time:

“Well, I had some good doctors [laughs],” Kurt Angle began. “What happened was I broke my neck at the Olympic trials, and I didn’t know it was broken, so I continued through the trials, and I made the Olympic team, and I went back to my hometown, and I went and got X rays and found out my neck was broken four different vertebrae, and I had two discs that are sticking directly into my spinal cord which could chance paralysis. So the doctor said, ‘You’re done. You can’t wrestle,’ and I said, ‘I have to.'”

Kurt Angle believes he wouldn’t be allowed to compete today in the condition he was in back in 1996

Kurt Angle eventually found a doctor who would let him compete but put him on a healing agent during the process. Angle revealed this doctor even traveled with him to the Olympics and shot his neck up with Novocaine in order to compete.

“Now, this is 1996. So back then, liabilities were a lot less,” Kurt Angle said. “You can’t do it now. There’s no way a doctor would clear you to do that. But back then, I found a doctor that would allow me to wrestle, but he wanted me to take a healing agent. I couldn’t take a steroid because of the Olympics, and that was illegal. But he gave me a healing agent and decided that he would travel with me to the Olympics, and stick me with 12 shots of Novocaine in my neck. So you know what? I didn’t even know my neck was broken because I couldn’t feel it. So that’s how I won a gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck. I didn’t actually have to feel the pain.”

While many fans are hoping to see Kurt Angle step into the wrestling ring one final time for WWE or AEW, with all the wear and tear Angle has put on his body for almost three decades, it’s not likely to happen.

Are you surprised to hear Kurt Angle’s story? Would you like to see Angle wrestle one more match? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

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Edited by Genci Papraniku