Harley Race Keeps Fighting

Spotlight: Former world champ wrestler Harley Race still fighting
by Joel Holleman
St. Louis Times Dispatch

A metal utility building is far away in many ways from Madison Square Garden, and there are few moves you can make from a motorized chair.

But after more than 55 years of belts, bruises, wins, pins and falls, “Handsome” Harley Race is still in the wrestling game.

“I’ve wrestled on every continent but Antarctica and in every country in the world except for China and the USSR,” said Race, 72, as he sat behind the desk of World League Wrestling in Troy, Mo.

Conspicuously, Race now sits in a cushioned, motorized chair and readily admits that getting around is no longer his strong suit — thanks to having had hips and knees replaced, five vertebrae fused together, multiple abdominal surgeries and a metal rod for a forearm.

“You do what I did to my body, for as long as I did, and it’s bound to take its toll,” said Race, with not a hint of regret in his gravelly voice.

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