THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010317
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: 77 lines
Kenny Monday hopes the world understands. He is not at the Olympics because a madman shot and killed his friend and rival.
``I hate it,'' he says. ``It's so tragic. But I feel I would be here even if Dave were alive.''
As long as the Olympics freestyle wrestling competition lasts, Monday will be connected with the death of Dave Schultz.
On Jan. 26, Schultz, 36, was allegedly gunned down by his benefactor, eccentric chemical fortune heir John E. duPont.
During his arraignment on first- and third-degree murder charges, duPont told authorities that he was the Dalai Lama.
This is the sort of story people tend to remember. Not that TV would ever let us forget. It will be one of the focal points of NBC's coverage of the U.S. wrestling team.
The 1988 gold medalist and 1992 silver medalist, Monday, 34, was lured back to the sport by the challenge of toppling Schultz, who had regained the No. 1 ranking at 163 pounds.
The two would almost have certainly met in the finals of this summer's U.S. trials.
``Dave hadn't beaten me since 1987,'' Monday said the other day. ``I believe in my abilities. I think I would have won.''
He never got the chance to prove it.
``Dave and I had a good relationship,'' Monday said, ``but it was an intense rivalry. I think we drove each other to new heights.''
Schultz was an American wrestling icon and something of a mentor to the younger crowd. If you knew anything at all about big-time amateur wrestling, you knew about Dave Schultz.
He took home the gold medal from the '84 Olympics. But when Monday beat him in the '88 trials, Schultz helped his teammate prepare for the Games in Seoul.
``After I won the gold,'' Monday said, ``Dave picked me up and carried me around the mat.''
Schultz was in Monday's corner again when the Oklahoma State graduate lost in the finals at Barcelona.
Two Olympics were enough for Monday. Or so he thought. He left wrestling and moved back to Tulsa. He opened a Subway sandwich franchise and a coffee shop he called ``Monday Morning Espresso.''
``I think something inside me always knew I would come back for a chance to wrestle in Atlanta,'' he said.
After two years, the first black wrestler to win Olympic gold returned to the gym. It was a slow process.
``I was full of subs and gourmet coffee,'' he said. ``I was pretty heavy.''
In time, he dropped weight and raised his intensity. One day, Schultz approached him with a smile. ``So, Monday,'' he said, ``you back to harrass me again?''
``At that time,'' Monday recalled, ``we knew what was at stake.''
But on Jan. 26, everything changed.
``I had a gut feeling something bad was going to happen,'' Monday said.
Months before, he had complained to USA Wrestling about duPont. Though Monday never trained with duPont's Foxcatcher club near Philadelphia, he had gotten reports.
He heard that two black wrestlers had been dismissed by duPont, who was claiming allegiance to the Ku Klux Klan. He was told that duPont pointed a rifle at a wrestler.
``This,'' he told officials, ``is going to blow up in your face.''
``But I didn't think it would result in Dave's death,'' he said the other day. ``Dave defended duPont to the end. That's the ironic thing.''
Monday, who competes in his first match today, knows he can't avoid wrestling in Schultz's shadow.
``The media has put the story in play,'' he said. ``It's going to be there. It's added pressure.''
Like all U.S wrestlers, Monday will be wearing a black band on his singlet in memory of Dave Schultz.
``It's good that Dave is remembered,'' Monday said. ``But I want my coverage to come from winning gold medals.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
``I hate it,'' Kenny Monday says. ``It's so tragic. But I feel I
would be here even if Dave were alive.''
KEYWORDS: OLYMPIC GAMES 1996 ATLANTA by CNB