Former University of Iowa head wrestling coach Dan Gable has officially received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Gable and his reported 23-person entourage – mostly composed of his family – attended the Medal of Freedom award ceremony at the White House with President Trump at 11 a.m. central time Monday. The ceremony was closed to members of the media.

Gable was first notified of his achievement Oct. 13, and on Oct. 14, he took the stage with Trump at a presidential campaign rally in Des Moines.

Gable is the first wrestler to be awarded the Medal of Freedom. The Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor, given to individuals that have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the U.S., to world peace, or to cultural or other significant private or public endeavors.

“It’s humbling because that’s the highest honor,” Gable said at the Oct. 14 rally. “I’m used to winning and having to do it on the mat.”

During his time at the University of Iowa from 1976 to 1997, Gable guided the Hawkeyes to 15 NCAA team titles and 21-straight Big Ten Championships. He also coached 152 All-Americans, 46 national champions, and 12 Olympians – eight of which went on to become medalists.

As a wrestler himself, Gable was a three-time All-American, winning two NCAA Championships as an Iowa State Cyclone. He also earned a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics after mowing through six opponents without surrendering a single point.

“He’s the pride of Iowa and he’s great,” Trump said Oct. 14. “You always try and figure out what makes a champion. Because you look at him — nice guy, good-looking guy, all that stuff. But why is he a gold medalist that’s done something that nobody ever did? He didn’t allow one point against any of these wrestlers and they are all the best in the world, the toughest. It’s just something different. Probably never figure it out. It is with great champions. You see it and you see it all the time with great champions, but there are very few.”

Gable, a 72-year-old originally from Waterloo, Iowa, believes a lifetime of work in wrestling is what allowed him to win the Medal of Freedom.

“It’s hard to believe I only coached until I was 49 years old,” Gable told hawkeyesports.com. “I really haven’t let up with what I love and what I do. I don’t think I would have gotten this award if all the sudden I stopped in 1997. It’s been 23 years and I am still doing things, and that won’t change.”

Gable’s no-quit mentality lives on in the Iowa program today through current head coach and associate head coach Tom and Terry Brands. The twin brothers wrestled under Gable in the early 1990s.

Terry was a two-time NCAA Champion, three-time All-American, and a three-time Big Ten Champion under Gable’s watchful eye. Tom was a four-time All-American, three-time NCAA Champion, and three-time Big Ten Champion while Gable was at the helm.

“Gable has left me a lifetime philosophy that I do not deviate from,” Tom told hawkeyesports.com. “My brother and I are keen on the lessons we learned from him. That will never change. This award is awesome because it puts Dan Gable in context and brings him back front and center. Gable was a winner. He did not lose.”

Current UI Director of Athletics Gary Barta also appreciates Gable’s greatness, though Barta was not at Iowa while Gable was coaching.

“He is known around the world and across all walks of life for his accomplishments in wrestling, but beyond that his incredible passion, focus, and his tenacious will to be the best,” Barta told hawkeyesports.com. “There aren’t many people who can say they were the best in the world at what they did. Dan Gable can say that.”