Doug Reese: True Olympic Spirit

Surrounded by the glamour and glitz of the Olympics, it is often hard for athletes to maintain their focus. Maintaining the routine that helped them achieve an Olympic birth is often important, and an Olympian needs help to do that. Such was the case with silver-medalist Dennis Hall.

Former Illinois State wrestler Kevin Bracken was a key element in helping friend and teammate Dennis Hall prepare for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Bracken spent nearly six months training with Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and living with Hall and his wife while the men prepared for the U.S. National Championships and the Olympic Trials in 1996. When Bracken failed to earn a spot on the U.S. Greco-Roman team at 136.5 pounds, he didn't abandon his workout buddy.

"It was time for me to help Dennis. When two people train together, they develop a certain type of wrestling relationship and a certain type of friendship. I'd like to see my friend succeed,” commented Bracken.

Dennis did not want any disruptions prior to the start of competition. He wanted the peace and quiet he enjoyed in Stevens Point, WI, not the excitement and stress of the Olympic Games. Therefore, he decided not to stay in the vast Olympic Village with all the other Olympic athletes, but instead he opted to stay in the Red Roof Inn, miles away for the competition.

When I was in Atlanta assisting USA Wrestling for the Olympics in 1996, I spent an entire afternoon searching for a stationary bicycle for Dennis Hall to cut his last few pounds of weight before the official Olympic weigh-in. We finally convinced the owner of a Play it Again Sports in suburban Atlanta to donate a bike in exchange for an autographed photo. When I went to deliver the bike to Dennis at the motel, it was easy to locate the room—it was the one that had countless T-shirts, sweat shirts, and sweat pants draped over the railing hanging out to dry. Up to the final moments of the Olympic Games, Hall and Bracken were training in the
familiar routine.

The night before the weigh-in for Greco-Roman wrestling, I went to see Hall again. When I walked into the rather stuffy second-floor room, I grinned in astonishment. There was Dennis Hall tucked into one queen-sized bed next to his wife Krissy, and in the other bed lay training partner Kevin Bracken! On the eve of the biggest competition of his life, Olympian Dennis Hall needed his wife and training partner with him. The two most important people in his life helped him to relax and gave him the routine that he needed to be at his best.

Kevin Bracken epitomizes the power of those behind the scenes that we don’t see on NBC. After his disappointment in failing to make the Olympic Team, Bracken could have packed it in and headed home to Chicago. Instead he made the commitment to continue to help his friend and teammate maintain the routine he needed to earn a silver medal. That is the real Olympic spirit!