Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren recovering after double lung transplant
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren, who has been hospitalized in Wisconsin after a severe case of pneumonia, said in a post on social media Wednesday that he had undergone a double lung transplant and is in recovery.
Askren said during the Instagram video that he recalls very little of what happened over a monthlong stretch from late May through the first two days of July. His wife, Amy, had said in a series of social media posts that Askren was put on a ventilator in June and placed on the donor list for a lung transplant on June 24.
Advertisement
'No recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened,' Askren said of most of the past six weeks. "I just read through my wife's journal. It's like a movie. It's ridiculous. I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.'
Askren said he lost about 50 pounds during the 45-day stretch.
'The thing that was most impeccable to me was all the love I felt,' Askren said. 'It was almost like I got to have my own funeral.'
The 40-year-old Askren was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but has lived primarily in Wisconsin, where he runs a youth wrestling academy. He won back-to-back NCAA titles at Missouri and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics for the U.S. before moving into MMA, where he fought for Bellator and ONE Championship before moving into the UFC.
Advertisement
Askren retired from MMA after a loss to Demian Maia in October 2019. He had a record of 19-2 with one no contest.
Askren made a brief return to combat sports in April 2021, when he fought social media star Jake Paul in a boxing match. Paul won by technical knockout in the first round of a fight that sold about 500,000 on pay-per-view.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
9 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Felix, Serena go into Team USA HoF along with an icon who paved the way for women: Anita DeFrantz
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — In some ways, one of the longest-serving members of the International Olympic Committee, Anita DeFrantz, paved the way for the new president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, to get to where she is today. That why Coventry, the first female leader of the IOC, pulled a big surprise Saturday. She traveled to Colorado Springs to watch DeFrantz, a trailblazing Olympic rower in 1976 and IOC member since 1986, get inducted into the Team USA Hall of Fame. 'She opened up so many doors, for me and for so many others,' said Coventry, who took over as president last month, in an interview with The Associated Press before the ceremony. 'I'm extremely grateful for that. I know that I've got to make sure I do that for other women.' The 72-year-old DeFrantz is part of a class that includes eight individual women — among them 11-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix, four-time Olympic champion Serena Williams, three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings and 2012 all-around gymnastics champion Gabby Douglas. Also inducted Saturday were Bode Miller, Mike Krzyzewski, Phil Knight, Steve Cash, Susan Hagel, Flo Hyman and Marla Runyan, along with the 2010 four-man bobsled team and the 2004 women's wheelchair basketball team. Coventry showed up for DeFrantz, who played an important role in moving votes toward the five-time Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe in the seven-person race to succeed Thomas Bach earlier this year. This was one of Coventry's first big — albeit low-key — trips in the new role, and DeFrantz was shocked to see the new president standing there as she got out of her car to head into the ceremony at the Broadmoor. DeFrantz described herself as a little lonely when she went to her first IOC meeting in 1986. 'I walked in and I thought, 'This is odd,'' she said. 'It was this cavernous room' and she was one of only five female committee members there. One of her main goals in becoming a shaper of world sports policy: 'We had to help people open their minds a little.' While, in some ways, the Olympics has been ahead of its time in the effort to bring women into big-time sports — 22 women participated in the 1900 Olympics while, for instance, it took until 1981 for the NCAA to sanction women's basketball — it has also shined a global spotlight on some inequities that have existed for decades. Women's rowing didn't debut at the Games until the 1976 Olympics where DeFrantz and her teammates won bronze. Only last year did the Olympics achieve gender parity, with women making up half of the approximately 10,500 athletes, according to the IOC. DeFrantz, a vice president of the 1984 LA organizing committee, helped spark that progress. She served as chair of the IOC's women in sport commission for 20 years. She became a member of the IOC executive board in 1992 and was elected as the IOC's first female vice president in 1997. A generation later, Felix began her own fight to highlight the way women were treated when they became pregnant. She forced a seismic change in contract terms that, for decades, had given little leeway to female track stars who put careers on hold to have babies. Felix is now a member of the IOC, as well — following in the footsteps of both DeFrantz and Coventry as Olympic athletes who now have seats at the decision-making table. 'I feel really blessed to come after Anita and I've told her this many times, she has paved the way,' Felix said. 'She's a game-changer. Just what she's seen and contributed to is incredible. For someone like me, it's just wanting to carry on her legacy.' DeFrantz's honor comes at yet another tenuous time for women in sports, punctuated by headline-grabbing debates about eligibility and gender testing in track , boxing , swimming and other sports that will likely bring leaders like Coventry and DeFrantz into the mix. Coventry said it's important to 'protect the female category,' and has signaled that the IOC will take a more active role in setting guidelines for participation. But for the 41-year-old president, this was a night for celebrating a mentor who made her role in today's debates possible. 'It's all about letting people have opportunities,' DeFrantz said. 'You can't make an Olympian. But you can open the door to possibilities.' ___ AP sports:
Washington Post
20 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Felix, Serena go into Team USA HoF along with an icon who paved the way for women: Anita DeFrantz
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In some ways, one of the longest-serving members of the International Olympic Committee, Anita DeFrantz, paved the way for the new president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, to get to where she is today. That why Coventry, the first female leader of the IOC, pulled a big surprise Saturday. She traveled to Colorado Springs to watch DeFrantz, a trailblazing Olympic rower in 1976 and IOC member since 1986, get inducted into the Team USA Hall of Fame.
Washington Post
20 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Roberts, Murphy defend Misiorowski 's selection to NL All-Stat roster
SAN FRANCISCO — The addition of Milwaukee Brewers rookie phenom pitcher Jacob Misiorowski to the National League All-Star team drew mixed reactions around Major League Baseball. Some players and fans quickly took to social media to express their frustrations over a player with only five starts in the majors being added to the NL roster instead of other players who have put up as good, if not better, numbers during the first half of the season. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who will manage the NL squad Tuesday in Atlanta, is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Roberts made it clear that he had no voice in selecting Misiorowski but sees the move as a positive, given the entertainment value of the Midsummer Classic. 'The All-Star game is about the fans,' Roberts said. 'Yes, this kid hasn't pitched a whole lot in the big leagues but I do think it sparks some more excitement, seeing the velocity.' The 23-year-old, who is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA, quickly gained attention when he threw a 100.5 mph fastball for his first pitch in the big leagues. Brewers manager Pat Murphy said he understood the backlash from around the league but sees it as giving fans what they want. 'People want to see Miz pitch,' Murphy said. 'He's the new shiny toy in the league. It's not deserving, that has nothing to do with it. He's been given this opportunity. It's not his fault. 'This wasn't a fly by night decision. This is something they thought through. I think it would be really tough for the kid to say no to that.' Murphy likened Misiorowski to former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych. Fidrych was an All-Star his first two seasons in the majors, a unique player who would often talk to his glove while on the mound. Fans embraced Fidrych and his eccentricities because he had the stuff on the mound to back it up. He pitched 24 complete games as a rookie in 1976, including back-to-back games when he logged 11 innings each time. 'From what I know of The Bird, it just seems that he was really authentic and really super talented,' Murphy said. 'There's some parallels there for sure.' ___ AP MLB:
