After 28 years, wrestler has chance to fulfill Olympic dreams

Twenty-eight years ago, Lee Kemp, a young wrestler who had just graduated from UW–Madison, was preparing to fight the enemy on the mat. Kemp had just won a spot on the 1980 U.S. Olympic wrestling team and was training not only to win gold but also to beat the Soviets during the peak of the Cold War.

Then President Jimmy Carter’s decision to withdraw the United States from the games, which were to take place in Moscow, shattered the young man’s dreams and left lingering regrets. Now, almost three decades later, Kemp is going to the Olympics as a coach for the U.S. wrestling team, fulfilling a lifelong dream and training one of the best U.S. wrestling teams.

As young athletes chatter in the background about Soulja Boy’s newest hit, Kemp talks about the changes in wrestling since the 1980 Olympics: new rules, new strategy, new technology, and, he adds with a chuckle, new music.

But Kemp is trying to teach this year’s team the basics and use his experience to guide the young team.

“It’s been good bridging the gap between the different generations of wrestlers. We are all working together to strengthen our goal of achieving Olympic gold,” Kemp explains. “What I hope I bring to the athletes is experience; I have been there before. They can rely on me for that kind of guidance. A lot of what I bring is that ability, knowing what to expect in an international competition. I know how to train and I know how to win.”

In addition to being on the 1980 Olympic team, Kemp also is a three-time world freestyle champion and is recognized as one of the legends in his weight class. Kemp attributes some of his success as an international champion to his training at UW–Madison and his coaches’ lessons.

“When I was a young freshman coming in, I wanted to wrestle right away. I wanted to be a national champion right away,” Kemp says. “Wisconsin facilitated all of that. Everything I was trying to accomplish I accomplished there. I look at my days at Wisconsin as very positive.”

After Kemp graduated from UW–Madison with a degree in business administration, he quickly went on to win the world freestyle championship, making him, at 21 years old, the youngest wrestler to ever receive the title. Kemp won the title again in 1979.

In 1980, the young wrestler made the Olympic team, only to have Carter decide to boycott the games in protest of the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan. It is a decision Kemp thinks is regrettable to this day.

“It was a bad decision,” Kemp states. “It is terrible to mix sports and politics like that, to use athletes as pawns that are expendable. Hopefully no president will ever make that decision again.”

After winning the world champion title again in 1982, Kemp tried for a spot on the 1984 team. He came in second at trials, ending his Olympic dreams. A frustrated and disappointed Kemp retired from the sport and went into business and marketing, working for several advertising companies and owning a car dealership.

As Kemp explains, “I got married and had kids, and 14 years went by.”

But when his marriage ended a few years ago, Kemp found himself drawn back to wrestling.

“It has been a hard thing to deal with. So now I got back into wrestling; it was really a healing thing. Without it, I don’t think I would have done so well,” Kemp says. “Emotionally and physically it has been great. I’ve gotten back into shape and I’ve been able to help athletes achieve their goals. “

Although Kemp still wishes he could have been able to compete in the Olympics as an athlete, he feels that coaching is now where he belongs.

“Now I think to myself, ‘I always should have been a coach.’ When I think about it, no matter what I did in business, as I get older, I won’t think about how many cars my dealership sold or any of the rest of it,” Kemp says. “Nothing is as rewarding as someone coming up to me and saying ‘Hey Lee, I remember something you said at one of those camps you taught when you were in Madison, and it had an impact on my life to this day. It allowed me to go on and do better things in my life.’ They tell me how much of an impact I have had on their lives and I think, I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

After the Olympics, Kemp plans to continue coaching at his Lee Kemp’s Cooler Wrestling Club and will start a new business aimed at overall nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. And although Kemp may not be up to date on all the latest music of this generation, he is utilizing the technology by starting his own blog.

For more information about Kemp and his career, visit this site.