[This is part 2 of our ten day most memorable Olympic moments countdown to the 2012 Olympics. The daily non-Olympian athletic gratuitous eye candy is just a bonus.]

Most would agree with the numerous bulge shots and an obvious fondness of grabbing each other’s crotches, that wrestling comes off as one of the gayest sports at the Olympics. Or at least the most homoerotic. No problemo. Unless you really are gay.

Leading into the Athens Games, Hungarian wrestler Gergo Szabo was one of his country’s top-ranked freestyle Greco-Roman wrestlers. Competing in the 66kg division, he was ranked fifth in the European Championship and ninth in the World Championships. He was expected to be a serious contender for a medal at the 2004 Olympics. His shot at gold came to a screeching halt when it was revealed his money shots had been caught on tape. Szabo had starred in over a dozen gay porn videos under the name of Sergio Foster. When his porn past came to light he was booted off the Hungarian national team.

You’d have to wonder how anyone in the world managed not hear of Bel Ami, but the powers that be in Hungary evidently never realized how hungry the rest of the world was for its hot bodied hunks. Despite a series of articles on a prominent Hungarian website that covered the porn/athlete connection and highlighted the story of bodybuilders who moonlight as prostitutes – including Mr. Ukraine/Mr. Universe/Mr. World 1991, Attila Szabo – and Hungarian journalist Laszlo Menyhert Meszaros’ book Plastic Stars which revealed “the dirty secrets of Hungarian media moguls and superstars who use their positions and their programs to hunt for young musclemen, offering them jobs, publicity, and careers in return for sex and gay porn activities’ Hungarian wrestling officials were shocked that Szabo had been earning money having sex with men on film.

Szabo’s coach, Tamas Csokas, let the cat out of the bag during an interview with a local tabloid saying that Szabo had family financial problems that seemed to be solved by the offers of pornographers. Coach Csokas added that Gergo was not a homosexual, he just needed some cash. He also noted that the entire Hungarian national wrestling team loved Szabo. No mention was made whether that was caught on film or not.

Among the videos, Gergo and his best buddy appeared in was one titled Secrets of a Wrestler, that featured Szabo and others in authentic wrestling scenes, then having sex in a sports facility near Budapest. Szabo reportedly made about 700 Euros per video. The Hungarian Wrestling Federation was not amused. Or excited. Citing their revised 2003 disciplinary code the Federation investigated Szabo’s past for the previous two years, and then banned him from competition. Supporters of the wrestler said his disqualification was not legitimate, because he had not made any videos since 2001. In an interview after making their decision, Tamas Gaspar, secretary general of the Federation, said, “We have never had such a scandalous affair in our sport. A public figure must keep certain rules. It is not our business if somebody were gay. But if he did gay porn, that is a quite another story.”

Yes, one that had both several happy endings and one no-so-happy ending. The country’s prior record at the Olympics for wrestling was less than sterling and the national team managed to take home only one Olympic medal for wrestling at the 2004 games.

It’s hard to wear an wrestler’s singlet and not show off that you are hard, or even just packin’. The sport seems to not attract those who don’t quite measure up. Then again since it is the only sport that requires one of the contestants be a bottom, there’s hope for all. It’s also a good excuse to take a closer look at some gold medal worthy wrestler bulges, and a few of the sport’s gayer moments.

[‘The XXX Games’ are a series of posts about hot Olympians, gay competitors – both present and past – and general articles about the 2012 London Olympics of interest to gay men. So, yeah, lots of hot male eye candy. Click the XXX Games graphic below for additional news, stories, and pictures.]