From the Olympics to WWE: Seven athletes who made the leap

Sports entertainment has always been a source of inspiration for many and a source of redemption for many others.

Many of the great athletes, not just American, who tried their luck at the Olympics (including several medalists) competed or continue to compete today in the world's largest professional wrestling company, WWE.

In the wake of tonight's opening in Paris, we want to look at those Olympians who succeeded in both the Games and WWE, and these are seven of them.

The Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri)

The 1968 Mexico Games saw one of WWE's future Hall of Fame inductees compete in the wrestling category. He was part of Team Iran, before emigrating to the United States and succeeding in professional wrestling. He will always be remembered as one of Hulk Hogan's antagonists in the late '70s and early '80s. His career there is undoubtedly still remembered to this day.

Ken Patera

Ken participated in the sadly remembered 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, competing in the weightlifting category. After his Olympic career, he became a professional wrestler and joined WWE (WWF at the time) achieving his greatest milestone in the sport, the Intercontinental Championship after defeating the most legendary of them all, Pat Patterson. He held the championship for 231 days until the Puerto Rican Pedro Morales dethroned him. Several decades of wrestling followed until his retirement in the early 1990s.

Bad News Brown (Allen Coage)

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Allen Coage, popularly known as Bad News Brown in wrestling, competed and won the bronze medal in judo, in the +93 kg category. But it was not until 1988 when he debuted in Vince McMahon's company having important rivalries with Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Bret Hart. He came to WWF from the American AWA, after passing through Japan, an important country with an international wrestling tradition.

Kurt Angle

One of the best known at all levels is perhaps Kurt Angle. The current WWE Hall of Famer made the jump from the 1996 Atlanta Games, where he won the gold medal in wrestling competing with a broken neck. After an incredible transition in which he adapted to the new sport in record time, winning as many as 9 championships. He finally retired at WrestleMania 35 held at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey defeated by Baron Corbin.

Mark Henry

Barcelona '92 and Atlanta '96 saw Mark Henry grow as an elite athlete and Olympic competitor. He participated in the weightlifting discipline and, although he did not medal, he also successfully transitioned to WWE where he won three championships, including World Heavyweight Champion. In wrestling he was known by the nickname "the world's strongest man."

Ronda Rousey

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 saw the then judoka Ronda Rousey perform well. In the under-70 kg category, she won bronze to make the jump to UFC (where she became the first woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame) and later to WWE, where, despite having been champion on several occasions, she did not leave with too many friends.

Chad Gable (Charles Betts)

London 2012 was a life-changing event for Charles Betts as he competed in the world's greatest sporting showcase. In the discipline of wrestling, over 84 kg category. Charles entered the WWE Performance Center where he became known as Chad Gable. After a successful stint in NXT, where he managed to be Tag Team Champion alongside Jason Jordan (Alpha Academy), he made the leap to the main roster where, to this day, he remains one of the biggest names in the company.