BOISE -- Right now, the eyes of the world are focused on Vancouver and the 2010 Winter Olympics.
But one Boise businessman is focused on London and the 2012 Summer Games.
Russell Brunson made a lot of money at a pretty young age, and now hopes to turn some of it into gold. Brunson is president and founder of Boise-based dotcomsecrets.com.
"Dotcomsecrets teaches people how to turn their passions into profits," said Brunson.
Brunson started what would become dotcomsecrets to make a little extra money while still a student at Boise State University, and it took off. He says he made his first million within a year of graduation.
"The worse the economy gets the better it does for us because everyone is looking for alternative ways to make money and things they can do to offset some of the income they may be losing," Brunson said.
In five years the young company has grown to employ nearly 80 workers. Russell's young family has grown too. He and his wife have three kids and are expecting a fourth.
He had success, money and a loving family, but something was missing.
"Just on kind of on a wild hair I decided I wanted to start wrestling again," said Brunson.
It was in his blood. He couldn't get it out of his system. Brunson first started wrestling as a little boy.
"It's been my passion my whole life. Ever since I first started doing it I was like 'wow! This is kind of my thing.' I was good at it. I really enjoyed it," said Brunson.
He was good enough to wrestle for Boise State.
"I had aspirations of being an all-american and I barely missed my goals. The last four or five years I've been always thinking, man I was so close to hitting my goals and I never did," said Brunson.
So rather than stifling his desire to give it another shot, and regretting what could have been, Brunson decided to try to recapture the glory. So how much does he love wrestling?
"Enough to blow $250,000 trying to build a training center and recruit guys," said Brunson.
About seven months ago Brunson decided to use some of his dotcomsecrets dollars to create a top notch Greco Roman wrestling training center at Treasure Valley fitness in Boise.
"Yeah, it's definitely I have selfish purposes behind the whole thing," said Brunson.
His goal is to wrestle in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. And this is no mid-life crisis run amok. Brunson is only 29.
"With the coaching we have, with the workout partners, with the time we're putting into it, I definitely think I got a shot two years from now. I figure If I'm going to do it, let's hire the best coach in the world. Let's recruit the best workout partners in the world," said Brunson.
So he did. He hired coach Ivan Ivanov from Bulgaria. Ivanov has been coaching in the U.S. since 1997.
"I'm very excited because we have the ability here to use our own ideas. It's very sport specific oriented strength conditioning training. We spend most of our time here and build our strength here in this room," said Ivanov.
Brunson also recruited training partners such as Justin Ruiz who is a two-time all-american, a bronze medal winner at the 2005 World Championships and a 2012 olympic hopeful.
"I think my chances for 2012 are really good," said Ruiz.
"We could put a few guys on the Olympic team. Definitely," said Ivanov.
While pursuing his own Olympic dream, Brunson is giving these wrestlers the chance to pursure theirs. Not only by bringing them here to train, but by hiring eight of them to work for his company.
Between twice daily training sessions, they work in a computer lab above the gym. There's not a lot of sponsorship money in Greco Roman wrestling.
"It's great. I mean there's not a whole lot of other opportunities where you can have a job and be able to support yourself and your family and still be able to wrestle," said Ruiz.
"I wanted to see something where guys could keep competing, could keep wrestling," said Brunson.
And that's what it's all about for Russell Brunson; the chance to keep wrestling, to keep striving, to keep working toward that goal -- London 2012.
"Whether it's me as an athlete or me there with my team, just being part of that whole dream is going to be exciting," said Brunson.
An Olympic dream that's becoming more and more vivid.
Right now, the training center is operating independently, but Brunson says they are working on becoming an official Olympic training center in the near future.
