Wrestling at the 1904 Summer Olympics

At the 1904 Summer Olympics, seven wrestling events were contested, all in the freestyle discipline. Then known as catch wrestling, it was the first time freestyle wrestling was featured at the Olympic Games, as the first Olympic wrestling contests in 1896 had been in the Greco-Roman style. Weight classes also made their first appearance. The sport continues to be in the Olympic program to the present day.[1] The event also doubled as that year's Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Catch Wrestling Championships.[2][3]

Wrestling
at the Games of the III Olympiad
VenueFrancis Olympic Field
Dates14–15 October 1904
No. of events7 (7 men, 0 women)
Competitors43 from 5 nations
← 1896
1908 →
Wrestling
Wrestling

Medal summary

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
Light flyweight
details
Robert Curry
  United States
John Hein
  United States
Gustav Thiefenthaler
  Switzerland
Flyweight
details
George Mehnert
  United States
Gustave Bauer
  United States
William Nelson
  United States
Bantamweight
details
Isidor Niflot
  United States
August Wester
  United States
Louis Strebler
  United States
Featherweight
details
Benjamin Bradshaw
  United States
Theodore McLear
  United States
Charles Clapper
  United States
Lightweight
details
Otto Roehm
  United States
Rudolph Tesing
  United States
Albert Zirkel
  United States
Welterweight
details
Charles Ericksen
  Norway
William Beckmann
  United States
Jerry Winholtz
  United States
Heavyweight
details
Bernhoff Hansen
  Norway
Frank Kugler
  Germany
Fred Warmbold
  United States

Participating nations

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Wrestling match during 1904 Summer Olympics.

A total of 44 wrestlers competed at the St. Louis Games:

The nationalities of some medalists are disputed, as many American competitors were recent immigrants to the United States who had not yet been granted U.S. citizenship.

The International Olympic Committee formerly considered Norwegian-American wrestlers Charles Ericksen and Bernhoff Hansen to have competed for the United States. Each man won a gold medal. In 2012, Norwegian historians found documentation showing that Ericksen did not receive American citizenship until March 22, 1905, and that Hansen probably never received American citizenship. The historians have therefore petitioned the IOC to have the athletes registered as Norwegians,[4][5] which was done.

Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  United States56617
2  Norway2002
3  Germany0101
4  Switzerland0011
Totals (4 entries)77721

Notes

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  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Wrestling at the 1904 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  3. ^ Nash, John S. (2012-10-20). "Olympic History: Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling? Yep". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  4. ^ "Her er beviset som endrer norsk idrettshistorie". NRK. August 14, 2012.
  5. ^ "USA-guld 1904 var Norges". Svenska Dagbladet. August 14, 2012.

References

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