It was the final of the Olympic heavyweight-wrestling tournament between a Russian and an American. The Russian started as favorite by virtue of his infamous “pretzel” hold, from which no wrestler had ever escaped. The fight was evenly balanced until suddenly, without warning, the Russian managed to trap the American in a deadly pretzel. The American coach held his head in despair. The end, it seemed, was imminent. In fact the coach was turning to collect his gear when a roar erupted from the crowd. He turned to see the Russian flying through the air. As the Russian landed, the American immediately pinned him to win the gold medal. The crowd went wild.

Afterwards the coach asked the American “How did you get out of that pretzel hold? No one has ever done it before.”

The American wrestler admitted, “I was ready to give up when he got me. In that hold, but then I opened my eyes and saw this pair of balls right in front of my face. I thought I had nothing to lose, so with my last ounce of strength, I bit them as hard as I could. You'd be amazed how strong you get when you bite your own balls!”