Olympic wrestler hospitalized after surviving exposure; was stranded outside overnight

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) _ A gold medal-winning Olympic wrestler was being treated for possible frostbite after surviving a bitter cold night in Wyoming's backcountry. <br><br>Rulon Gardner got stuck

Saturday, February 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) _ A gold medal-winning Olympic wrestler was being treated for possible frostbite after surviving a bitter cold night in Wyoming's backcountry.

Rulon Gardner got stuck in deep snow while snowmobiling with three friends in the Bridger-Teton National Forest about 15 miles from his home in Afton, Wyo.

He was taken by helicopter to a local hospital and was transferred to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where he was being treated. Hospital spokeswoman Amy Stevens declined to give information on his condition at the request of his family.

Late Friday, one of Gardner's business managers, Shannon Kelley, said the wrestler was doing well.

``He's talking and laughing and cutting up here and there as Rulon always does,'' Kelley said. ``I can tell you that he was talking with our office this afternoon. If you're not in good shape, you can't talk.''

Rescuers on snowmobiles and snowshoes launched a search in the dark after Gardner's friends reported him missing at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday, said sheriff's Lt. Tim Malik. A search plane pilot spotted him at about 8 a.m. Friday.

Gardner was wearing several layers of clothing but was not adequately dressed for an overnight stay outdoors, said Lee Gardner, Lincoln County (Wyo.) sheriff and a distant relative of the Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestler.

``He was in extremely good physical condition,'' said Jerry Hansen, a family friend of Rulon Gardner's. ``I suspect many people would have succumbed in this situation. We feel extremely blessed to have Rulon alive.''

Hansen said Gardner is ``attributing to God the fact that he has been spared.''

``He had a will to live and a drive to live, but we feel like it was a miracle,'' Hansen said.