COLORADO SPRINGS — With an Olympic gold medal around his neck, Henry Cejudo spent the past 2 1/2 years living like a celebrity and partying like a rock star. He sometimes thought about wrestling, the sport that put a roof over his head and a ton of money in his bank account.
Now, he’s back to work. And he wants to strike it rich again, for an even larger payday.
The Coronado High School graduate resumed practice Thursday at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center, looking a bit bigger, feeling a lot healthier and sounding awfully confident about his chances of getting in shape to make a run at the 2012 London Games.
Cejudo, 23, stepped on the mat for the first time since he topped Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan in the 121-pound freestyle finals of the 2008 Beijing Games — a victory that made him the youngest American wrestler to capture Olympic gold (at 21) and earned him $65,000 in contractual bonuses from USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Although he weighs more than 140 pounds, he hopes to enter the U.S. Olympic Trials next April at 121. He won’t compete at the Dave Schultz Memorial International from Feb. 3-5 at the OTC, with his possible return coming Feb. 16-20 at a tournament in Havana.
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“You need to be hungry,” said Cejudo, a three-time Pan American Championships gold medalist and two-time U.S. champion. “If there’s no hunger, you might as well not even compete. It’s too tough of a sport for you to just go through the motions. I finally felt that hunger, and it’s just a matter of time before I start to convert myself to the old Henry.”
Cejudo collected more than $100,000 on a whirlwind tour of appearances that included stops on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”; a stint on a Japanese game show; a visit to the White House; meetings with Donald Trump, Oscar De La Hoya and Jerry Colangelo; events in New York, Miami and his hometown Phoenix; and trips to Iran and Mexico.
Paradigm Talent Agency helped Cejudo score an Adidas shoe deal and paved the way for the publishing of his autobiography, “American Victory.” A second book, “Wrestling for Dummies,” is in the works, along with a movie by the makers of “High School Musical.” Cejudo became part owner of a gym with locations in Colorado Springs and Centennial, he upgraded his Acura to a Mercedes, and he’s thinking about buying a house here.
Still, Cejudo has to change if he’s serious about wrestling. No more French fries and fried chicken. The glasses of wine need to bite the dust. So do his suits and his silk pajamas.
“Henry is still young, in his age and his learning curve,” U.S. coach Zeke Jones said. “And . . . he has done it before. That goes a long way.”
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