Britain’s Olympic Heritage

Launceston Elliott

George Con O’Kelly DeRelwyskow

Stanley Bacon

1896 Athens, Greece April 6th - 13th

The wrestling competition consisted of just one event, a Greco Roman style competition without any weight restrictions. Five particpants took part in the competition with Great Britain represented by Launceston Elliott.

Launceston Elliot Launceston Elliot secures his place in Britain's wrestling heritage as the country's first wrestling representative in the modern Olympic Games at the time of their revival in Athens in 1896. Just five competitors took part in the single Greco Roman style competition. Launceston Elliot outweighed his opponent, the German Carl Schuman, but was outclassed (by the eventual first Olympic champion since Aurelius Aelix of Phoenicia in 213 A.D.) and eliminated from the competition.

Launceston even has the distinction of being one of Britain's first medal winners, a gold and a silver, though unfortunately not for his wrestling skills. Wrestling was a bit of a sideline for Launceston, who was primarily a weightlifter. He went into the record books as Britain's first gold medal winner when he won the one- handed lift competition in Athens. He took silver medal in the two handed lift, with gold awarded to Viggo Jensen of Denmark who was judged to have the superior style when both men lifted the same weight. Launceston also competed in the 100 metres race and rock climbing event.

Launceston Elliot was born in India (and named after the Australian town in which he was conceived) before moving to England when he was thirteen years old, where he developed his skills as a lifter under the guidance of Eugen Sandow. Without any of today's commercial support for competitors he financed his journey to Athens where he competed in the weightlifting, running, gymnastics and wrestling competitions. As a competitor in the 100 metres race Launceston became Britain's first Olympic athlete. He went on to further success in weightlifting competitions, took part in the 1900 Olympics (this time throwing the discus) and turned professional weightlifter in 1905, touring the music halls of Britain and Europe. Following his retirement he emigrated to Australia where he died of cancer on 8th August 1930.

1900 Paris, France May 14th – October 28th The 1900 Olympics were absorbed into the Paris World's Fair and events took place over a five month period. The entire arrangements were generally considered unsatisfactory in terms of the Olympic movement, with some competitors seemingly unaware they had taken part in an Olympic competition. Maybe it's just as well that these were the only Olympic Games of the modern era that did not include wrestling.

1904 St Louis, USA July 1st – November 24th Once again the Olympic events were merged with events of the St Louis World Fair, another unsatisfactory occasion and even Olympic founder Pierre de Courbetin did not attend. Most of the competitors at the St Louis Olympics were from the USA, with Great Britain sending just six participants, none of them for wrestling. In fact all the wrestling competitors lived in America, though some were of European origin. In the 1904 Games wrestling was competed in freestyle (catch-as-catch-can).

1906 Athina, Greece April 22nd - 2nd May Greece was keen to hold more frequent Olympic events, hence the organisation of these interim games. Whilst some historians dismiss this event as not "true Olympics" the Greeks did salvage the reputation of the Olympic movement following the disappointment of the 1900 and 1904 events. Great Britain did not have any representatives in the 1906 Olympics.

1908 London, United Kingdom 27th April – 31st October Originally planned for Rome the 1908 Games were transferred to London as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Italy's economic problems. In London the Olympic movement turned it's face towards the modern era, a truly international field and a standard of organisation hereto unheard of, though the games were marred by a number of controversies.

Wrestling events were held at the White City Stadium.

For the first time competitions in both Greco Roman and freestyle (catch-as- catch can) were held. This was not to happen again until 1920, when the arrangement became permanent. Three gold medal winners (George de Relwyskow, Stanley Bacon and George O'Kelly), four silver medal winners (George de Relwyskow, William Press, James Slim and William Wood), and three bronze recipients (William McKie, Albert Gingell, Edward Barrett and Frederick Beck), totalled an acquisition of eleven medals, Britain's biggest wrestling haul of all time.

William Adams William Adams lost in the first round of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition to James Webster.

Edgar Bacon Edgar Bacon was one of three wrestling brothers who competed in the Olympic Games. In the 1908 Olympic Games he competed in both the freestyle and Greco Roman middleweight competitions. In the Greco Roman event a first round bye led to a second round defeat by Denmark's Johannes Eriksen. In the freestyle competition he defeated George Bradshaw before losing to silver medallist George DeRelwyskow. Edgar Bacon won the British middleweight championship in 1927 and the light heavyweight championship in 1924, 1925 and 1927.

Stanley Bacon Stanley Vivian Bacon was the most successful of the wrestling brothers. In 1908 he competed in both the Greco Roman and freestyle middleweight competitions. In the Greco Roman event he lost his first round match against the eventual silver medal winner Mauritz Andersson. Stanley Bacon won gold in the freestyle competition, with wins over Horace Chenery, Aubrey Coleman in the quarter final, Frederick Beck in the semi, and George DeRelwyskow in the final. He was destined to return to the Olympics in 1912 and 1920. Stanley Bacon won the British lightweight championship in 1911, welterweight in 1924 and middleweight in 1911, 1912, 1913, 1924 and 1925.

Henry Baillie Although given a bye through to the second round of the 1908 freestyle lightweight competition William Shepherd lost his second round match against eventual bronze medal winner, Arthur Gingell.

Arthur Banbrook Arthur Banbrook competed in the light heavyweight Greco Roman competition and heavyweight freestyle event at the 1908 Olympic Games. Placed joint 5th he was the highest placed of the five Britons competing in the Greco Roman light heavyweight competition. Arthur was granted a bye through to the second round, where he defeated August Meesen of Belgium. In the quarter finals he lost to the eventual bronze medal winner, Carl Jensen. In the freestyle heavyweight competition he lost his first round match against Lawrence Bruce.

Edward (Ned) Barrett Edward "Ned" Barrett kept himself busy in the 1908 Olympic Games. He competed in the shot, discus javelin, tug of war and wrestling events in both heavyweight Greco Roman and freestyle. He won a gold medal in the Tug of War event and a bronze in the freestyle heavyweight wrestling competition. The route to bronze medal followed a bye in the first round, defeat of Charles Brown in the second, loss to the eventual gold medal winner Con O'Kelly Sr in the semi-finals and a win over Edward Nixson in the decider for the bronze medal. In the Greco Roman competition he went out in the first round, losing to Hugó Payr of Hungary.

Frederick Beck Islington's Frederick Beck competed in the 1908 middleweight Greco Roman and freestyle competitions, winning the bronze medal in the latter. Twenty one wrestlers took part in the Greco Roman event. The top eight places were taken by Scandinavian wrestlers, and the ninth by Frederick Beck. He defeated the Swede, Harry Challstorp, and then lost to another Swede, Mauritz Andersson, who went on to take the silver medal.

In the freestyle competition twelve competitors took part, with Frederick Beck taking the bronze medal following some controversial circumstances. Frederick had a bye in the first round, defeated the Cuban Frederico Narganes in the second and lost to the eventual gold medal winner, Stanley Bacon, in the semi final. This set up a contest between Frederick Beck and the loser of the other semi-final, to decide winner of the bronze medal. In the other semi George DeRelwyskow faced the Swedish wrestler Carl Gustav Andersson. The referee awarded George the match after the judges had failed to agree a decision. Vigorous protests ensued from the Swedish officials who claimed Andersson had been the more aggressive of the two wrestlers. When the objection failed and the referee's decision upheld by the British Olympic Council Andersson refused to compete for the bronze medal, forfeiting it to Frederick Beck. Edward Blount Edward Blount was a competitor in the 1908 lightweight Greco Roman competition. A bye in the first round led to the second where he lost to Gunnar Persson of Sweden.

George Bradshaw In the 1908 Olympics George Bradshaw competed in both the freestyle and Greco Roman middleweight competitions. In the Greco Roman event a first round by led to a second round defeat by Sweden's Frithiof Mårtensson. In the freestyle competition he lost his first round match against Edgar Bacon.

Charles Brown Charles Brown competed in the light heavyweight Greco Roman competition and heavyweight freestyle event at the 1908 Olympic Games. In the light heavyweight competition he had a bye through to the second round, in which he lost to Belgium's Marcel Dubois. In the heavyweight competition his first round bye led to a defeat at the hands of Britain's Edward Barrett.

Lawrence Bruce In the 1908 Olympics Lawrence Bruce competed in the freestyle heavyweight competition. A win over Arthur Banbrook in the first round was followed by a loss against Edward Nixson in the second.

Horace Chenery Horace Chenery competed in the middleweight freestyle competition in the 1908 Olympics. In the first round he was unfortunate enough to be matched with the eventual gold medal winner Stanley Bacon. Horace was born in Hoxton, Middlesex, on 16th March, 1886, the son of a printer, Horace went on to serve in the Metropolitan police.

Percy Cockings Percy Horatius Cockings was born in Bloomsbury, London in 1885. He lost his first round match of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition against eventual Gold medal winner, John Dole of the United States. Percy Cocking went on to win the British featherweight championship over four consecutive years from 1910 to 1913.

Aubrey Coleman Aubrey Coleman competed in the middleweight freestyle competition in the 1908 Olympics. In the first round he defeated Arthur Wallis, and went on to lose the quarter final against the eventual gold medal winner, Stanley Bacon. Coleman went on to win the 1909 British lightweight championship. Born in Suffolk in 1888 Aubrey worked as a storekeeper before becoming an all-in wrestler in the 1930s, known as Bull Coleman. By 1939 Aubrey was listing his occupation as "Sports secretary and physical training instructor." Aubrey Coleman died in 1943.

Richard Couch Richard Couch lost his first round match of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition against Arthur Goddard.

James Cox James Cox took part in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition, and lost his first round match against against fellow Brit George Saunders.

William Cox William Cox took part in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition, and lost his first round match against against Frederick Tomkins.

Frank Davis Frank Davis was placed joint 5th in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition. He defeated Frederick Knight in the first round and lost to the eventual bronze medal winner, Aubert Cote in the second round.

George DeRelwyskow More than a century after their achievements George Frederick William De Relwyskow remains one of only three men to win gold medals for Britain in the Olympics wrestling event, the other two being Stanley Bacon and George O'Kelly. Born in 1887 George came from a family well known for their exploits in Russia and so it was no surprise that he too became such an accomplished wrestler, seriously studying the sport whilst a student. George was the only wrestler to compete in two weight divisions when he represented Britain in the 1908 Olympics. He was set to become the youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal for wrestling, a record that was to stand for almost seventy years. George took gold in the freestyle lightweight division and silver in the freestyle middleweight competition. In the lightweight competition he defeated William Henson, William Shepherd and Arthur Gingell to face, and beat, William Wood for the Gold medal. In the freestyle middleweight competition he held victories over Harry Chellstorp of Sweden, Britain's Edgar Bacon, another Swede Carl Andersson before encountering Stanley Bacon, who took the Gold, in the final. George won the British championships at both lightweight and middleweight in 1907 and 1908.

George Faulkner George Faulkner participated in both the Greco Roman and freestyle competitions in the lightweight class of the 1908 Olympics. The Greco Roman competition had the largest field of wrestling competitors, twenty-five. In the Greco Roman competition he had a bye to the second round where he lost to the Danish wrestler Anders Moller. In the freestyle competition he lost in the first round to Britain's William Wood, who went on to win silver medal.

Harold Foskett Harold Foskett competed in the light heavyweight Greco Roman competition and heavyweight freestyle event at the 1908 Olympic Games. In the light heavyweight competition he lost his first round match against Marcel Dubois of Belgium. In the heavyweight competition he had a bye in the first round but was then unfortunate to be drawn against the eventual gold medal winner, George Cornelius (Con) O'Kelly, Sr.

Arthur Gingell Arthur Gingell won the bronze medal in the 1908 freestyle lightweight competition. A bye in the first round led to a win over Henry Baillie. George DeRelwyskow beat Arthur in the semi final, but he went on to defeat James MacKenzie in the deciding contest for the bronze medal. The son of a foundry labourer Arthur worked for a pork butcher after leaving school. Arthur Gingell emigrated to the United States, where he died in 1947,

Arthur Goddard Arthur Goddard defeated Richard Couch in the first round of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition. He went on to lose to fourth placed William Tagg.

Arthur Hawkins Arthur Hawkins took part in both the gymnastics and lightweight Greco-Roman wrestling competitions in the 1908 Olympics. In the wrestling event he defeated Denmark's Christian Carlsen in the first round, and lost to Hungary's Odon Radvany in the second round. William Henson Competing in the 1908 freestyle lightweight competition William Henson had the misfortune to be matched against the eventual gold medal winner George DeRelwyskow.

Joseph Hoy Competing in the 1908 freestyle lightweight competition Joseph Hoy lost his first round match against the American John Krug.

Frederick Humphreys Policeman Frederick Humphreys took part in three events in the 1908 Olympics, the Tug of War and the heavyweight wrestling competitions in both the Greco Roman and freestyle events. He won a gold medal in the Tug of War competition but was less fortunate at wrestling. In the Greco Roman competition he lost his first round match against the Russian Aleksandr Petrov, who went on to win silver. In the freestyle competition he had a bye in the first round before losing to the Norwegian, another silver medal winner, Jacob Gundersen.

Williams Jones William Jones lost his first round match of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition against James White.

Frederick Knight Frederick Knight took part in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition, and lost his first round match against Frank Davis. Frederick was twice British Bantamweight champion, in 1908 and again in 1911

George MacKenzie One of the great Olympians. George McKenzie was from Islington, the home of Bert Assirati the Islington Hercules, and MacKenzie was for many years the coach at the Ashdown Club, where trainees included Assirati, Atholl Oakeley and Bill Garnon. George competed in the Olympics of 1908, 1912, 1916 and 1920, later officiating at an additional four and carrying the Union Flag at the opening ceremony in 1952. In 1908 George competed in both the Greco Roman and freestyle lightweight competitions. In the Greco Roman competition he lost his first round match, which was against the eventual silver medal winner Gustaf Malmström of Sweden. He did better in the freestyle competition. A bye in the first round led to a victory over James McKenzie in the second. He lost to silver medallist William Wood in the semi finals, and lost again to Arthur Gingell in the decider for the bronze medal. George MacKenzie was an accomplished amateur over many years. He won the British lightweight championship in 1909, and again in 1912, 1922, 1924, 1932, and 1941. Add to all this the British featherweight championship in 1921, 1922 and 1926.

James MacKenzie James MacKenzie was given a bye through to the second round of the 1908 freestyle lightweight competition, and lost in the second round to George MacKenzie.

William McKie Bronze medal winner in the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition was William McKie, William defeated fellow Brit James White before losing to the American George Dole. In the decider between losing semi finalists he defeated William Tagg to take the bronze medal.

Edward Nixson Edward Nixson competed in the light heavyweight Greco Roman competition and heavyweight freestyle event at the 1908 Olympic Games. In the light heavyweight competition he had a bye through to the second round, in which he lost to Finland's Yrjö Saarela, the eventual silver medallist. In the heavyweight competition a first round match bye was followed by a win over Lawrence Bruce and a semi final loss against silver medallist Jacob Gundersen. In the deciding match for bronze medal Edward lost out to Britain's Edward Barrett.

George Cornelius "Con" O'Kelly, Sr Possibly the most impressive wrestler in the 1908 British team was an Irishman, George Cornelius "Con" O'Kelly, Sr . He was born in Gloun, County Cork, but came to England and by 1903 was living in Hull and serving in the police force. Standing over six feet tall and weighing around 16 stones he must have been an imposing figure, though we have read that he was reprimanded when youngsters stole his helmet! An injury at work, caused by a falling wall, almost put paid to George's chance to take part in the Olympics, but he was recovered for his first match on 23rd July. It was an impressive route to the gold medal for Con O'Kelly, with wins over the American James Lee Talbot, Britons Harold Foskett and Ned Barett and a gold medal performance over the Norwegian Jacob Gundersen. Following the Olympics George toured the music halls of Britain and the United States demonstrating his wrestling skills . Having little success he turned to boxing and fought 19 professional contests, winning 13, losing 5 and drawing 1. His son, George Cornelius "Con" O'Kelly Jr., represented Great Britain in the heavyweight boxing competition in the 1924 Games in Paris, France.

Sidney J. Peake In the first round of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition Peake had a bye, then losing to eventual silver medal winner, John Slim, in the second round.

William Press British bantamweight champion in 1906 William Press took the silver medal in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight class, beaten only by the American George Merhrnet. His route to the final included wins over fellow British competitors Harold Witherall, Burt Sansom and Frederick Tomkins.

Arthur Rose Arthur Rose took part in the Greco Roman lightweight competition in 1908. He lost his first round contest against Jozsef Marothy of Hungary.

William Ruff William Ruff took part in the Greco Roman lightweight competition in 1908. He lost his first round contest against Hungary's Odon Radvany.

Burt Sansom In the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition Burt Sansom defeated Guy Schwan and then lost to the eventual silver medal winner, William Press. Burt was to go on to win the British bantamweight championship in 1909 and 1910.

George Saunders George Saunders was placed joint 5th in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition. He defeated James Cox in his first round match and then lost to Frederick Tomkins.

Guy Schwan London born Guy Herman Schwan took part in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition, and lost his first round match against Burt Sansom.

William Shepherd Although given a bye through to the second round of the 1908 freestyle lightweight competition William Shepherd had the misfortune to be matched against the eventual Gold medal winner George DeRelwyskow.

John Slim Of the twelve competitors in the 1908 Featherweight freestyle competition eleven were from Great Britain. The twelfth was American George Dole, and it was Dole that took the Gold medal. British featherweight champion in 1905 and 1907 John Slim, from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, where his mother ran a tobacconist shop, came closest to Dole, taking home the silver medal. Slim defeated fellow Brits, Sidney Peake and William Tagg before losing to the American in the final.

Harry Sprenger Harry Osmond Sprenger was a skilled press tool maker who had a bye through to the quarter finals of the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition, followed by a loss to the eventual Gold medal winner, American George Mehnert.

William Tagg William Tagg was placed fourth in the freestyle featherweight competition in 1908. With a bye in the first round he defeated fellow Brit Arthur Goddard before losing to John Slim in the semi finals and William McKie for the bronze medal honours.

Frederick Tomkins Frederick Tomkins just missed out on medal glory, coming fourth in the 1908 bantamweight class. Tomkins defeated William Cox and George Saunders before losing to William Press in the semi finals and Aubert Cote in the bronze medal decider.

Arthur Wallis Arthur Wallis competed in the middleweight freestyle competition in the 1908 Olympics. In the first round he lost to Aubrey Coleman.

James Webster In the quarter finals of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition James Webster lost to the eventual gold medal winner John Dole. In the previous round he defeated Britain's William Adams.

William West William West competed in the light heavyweight Greco Roman competition and heavyweight freestyle event at the 1908 Olympic Games. In the light heavyweight competition he beat Miroslav Sustera of Bohemia in the first round, and then lost to the eventual gold medal winner, Finland's Verner Weckman. In the heavyweight competition he lost his first round match against Jacob Gundersen of Norway.

James White James White defeated William Adams in the first round of the 1908 freestyle featherweight competition. He went on to lose to bronze medal winner William Mckie. James White went on to win the British featherweight championship the following year, 1909.

Andrew Whittingstall Andrew Whittingstall took part in the Greco Roman lightweight competition in 1908. He lost his first round contest against the Dane, Anders Moller.

Harold Witherall Harold Witherall took part in the 1908 freestyle bantamweight competition, and lost his first round match against the eventual silver medallist William Press.

William Wood In the 1908 Olympic Games William Wood competed in both the Greco Roman and freestyle competitions at lightweight. In the Greco Roman competition he defeated Karel Halik of Bohemia and lost to the Hungarian József Maróthy. He had greater success in the freestyle competition, taking the silver medal. George Faulkner, American John Krug and George MacKenzie were swept aside, only to reach an end of his quest when he met George F.W. DeRelwyskow in the final.

1912 Stockholm, Sweden 5th May – 27th July As London in 1908 had taken the first tentative steps into the modern era, the 1912 Stockholm Olympics took a leap forward with seven more competing countries and 400 more competitors than London four years earlier. Wrestling events were confined to Greco Roman style. Wrestlers were eliminated from the tournament following two defeats, until three or fewer remained. Each wrestler drew a number and met the wrestler with the next number (provided he had not already faced that wrestler and that the wrestler was not from his own country). When only three wrestlers remain (the medallists) a final round determined the order of the medals.

Edgar Bacon Edgar Bacon returned to Olympic competition following his 1908 debut. He lost his opening match against Finland's Alppo Asikainen and lost again to another Finn, Fridolf Lundstein, and was eliminated from the competition.

Stanley Bacon In the 1908 London Olympics Stanley Bacon had won the middleweight gold in the freestyle competition, and been eliminated in the first round of the Greco Roman tournament. In the 1912 Stockholm Olympics only the Greco Roman style was included. Stanley Bacon lost two consecutive matches, thereby being eliminated. In his first match he lost to the Russian Jānis Polis, and was later beaten by Alfred Asikainen of Finland.

Edward (Ned) Barrett Having competed in the 1908 shot, javelin, discus, tug of war and two heavyweight wrestling competitions Ned Barrett returned to Stockholm with his focus on the Greco Roman heavyweight wrestling competition. He had won bronze in the 1908 freestyle competition but failed to equal or better his performance in Stockholm. He lost his first match against Søren Jensen, who went on to take bronze. Ned won his second match, against Russian Nikolajs Farnest, to remain in the competition. He was eliminated in the third round when he lost to Emil Backenius of Finland.

Percy Cockings Percy Horatius Cockings returned for his second attempt at Olympic Glory, this time wrestling in the Greco Roman style of the Feattherweight competition at the 1912 Olympics. He was eliminated after losing to two Finnish wrestlers, Ville Lehmusvirta and Kalle Leivonen.

Arthur Gould Arthur Gould competed in the lightweight Greco Roman competition of the 1912 Olympics. He withdrew from the competition after losing his first contest against the Hungarian Ernő Márkus

William Hayes William Hayes competed in the lightweight Greco Roman competition of the 1912 Olympics. In his first match he lost to Oskar Kaplur of Estonia and was eliminated following another loss, to Tuomas Pukkila of Finland, in his second match.

William Lupton William Lupton competed in the lightweight Greco Roman competition of the 1912 Olympics. In his first match he lost to the Norwegian, Richard Frydenlund. His second contest, a loss against Jan Balej of Bohemia, resulted in his elimination from the competition

George MacKenzie George MacKenzie, a man destined to become one of the great Olympians, returned for his second Olympic competition in 1912. It was disappointment once again following a hard fought loss against the Russian Aleksandra Miezītis in the Greco Roman featherweight competition. McKenzie withdrew from the competition and did not proceed to his next match.

Robert Phelps Robert Phelps competed in the lightweight Greco Roman competition of the 1912 Olympics. In his first match he lost to Hugo Björklund of Sweden. Another Swede, Carl Lund, beat Phelps in his second match and eliminated him from the competition.

Noel Rhys Noel Rhys made his Olympic debut in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, but it was not to be his last. In the middleweight Greco Roman style competition he lost both his matches, against Theodor Tirkkonen of Finland and Alois Totuschek of Austria. Noel was British light heavyweight champion in 1922 and 1923.

William Ruff William Ruff competed in the lightweight Greco Roman competition of the 1912 Olympics. In his first match he lost to the Bohemian Jan Bolej. He went on to wrestle Richard Frydenlund of Norway, suffered another defeat and was eliminated from the competition.

Alfred Taylor Alfred Taylor made his Olympic debut in the 1912 Greco Roman featherweight competition. He lost both his contests against two Swedes, Erik Öberg and Bruno Åkesson. Samuel Rabinovitch

Harold Angus Robert Cook

Joe Reid 1920 Antwerp, Belgium 23rd April – 12th September

With the First World War having ended two years earlier the 1920 Olympics were considered an important part of the world's recovery. Freestyle and Greco Roman competitions were held, and from these games on became an established part of the modern Olympics.

Edgar Bacon In the 1920 middleweight freestyle event Edgar Bacon was granted a bye through to the second round where he lost to the Russian Alppo Asikainen.

Stanley Bacon Gold medal winner in the 1908 Olympics Stanley Bacon lost his opening match (second round due to a bye) to the American Angus Frantz.

Philip Bernard Philip Bernard won the bronze medal in the 1920 featherweight freestyle competition. A win over Jean Harrasse of France in the first round led to a semi final defeat by the eventual winner of gold, American Charles Ackerley. In the deciding match for bronze Philip Bernard defeated Randhir Shindes of India.

Henry Inman Yorkshireman Henry Inman was granted a bye in the first round of the 1920 featherweight freestyle competition. His luck ran out in the second round when he lost to the Indian Randhir Shindes.

Donald Archibald "Archie" MacDonald Archie MacDonald competed in the heavyweight freestyle competition in 1920, and lost in the first round against Ernst Nilsson of Sweden.

George MacKenzie George MacKenzie returned to the Olympics to participate in the 1920 lightweight freestyle competition. It was not to be third time lucky. He lost to the eventual silver medal winner Gottfrid Svensson, having been granted a bye in the first round.

Frederick Mason Frederick Mason competed in the heavyweight freestyle competition in 1920, and lost in the first round against the American Fred Meyer.

Noel Rhys Noel Rhys returned for his second crack at Olympic glory when he competed in the 1920 freestyle light heavyweight competition. It was not to be as Noel lost his first round contest, defeated by Finland's Emil Westerlund.

Walter Wilson Walter Wilson and the American John Redman were both granted byes in the first round of the 1920 freestyle light heavyweight competition. They encountered each other in the quarter final with Walter Wilson eliminated after just 25 seconds.

Peter Wright (Bronze medal winner) Peter Wright took the bronze medal in the 1920 freestyle lightweight competition. A bye in the first round led to victory over Henri Joudio of France and then a loss against Sweden's Gottfrid Svenson. Peter Wright then defeated Auguste Thijs of Belgium to win the bronze medal. 1924 Paris, France 4th May - 27th July The 1924 Olympics took another leap forward; with 500 more competitors and countries involved jumping from 29 to 45. 1924 was the Olympics of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, immortalised in "The Chariots of Fire." Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling competitions were held, with Britons only taking part in the former.

Edgar Bacon The freestyle welterweight competition of 1924 was Edgar Bacon's fourth Olympics, having competed in 1908, 1912 and 1920. At 36 years of age this was to be his final appearance as he lost his opening match against Denmark's Johannes Eriksen.

Ernest Bacon The name of Bacon was already well known in Olympic circles when Ernest Bacon made his debut in the lightweight freestyle competition of the 1924 Olympics. Ernest was the brother of Stanley and Edgar, both Olympic veterans. Ernest's Olympic career lasted for just one match, he lost to Switzerland's Edouard Belet.

Harry "Sonny" Darby Bolton's Harry Darby competed in the freestyle bantamweight competition of the 1924 Olympics. In his first match he came up against Piero Tordero of Italy, who he defeated. In the quarter finals he lost his match against the eventual gold medal winner, Kustaa Pihlajamaki of Finland. The rules of the competition allowed all those losing to the gold medallist to compete in a tournament for silver. Harry Darby was matched with Kaarlo Makinen, of Finland. Harry lost and Makinen won the tournament to win the silver medal. Harry Darby went on to win the British bantamweight championship in 1925.

James Davis James Davis competed in the welterweight freestyle competition of the 1924 Olympic Games. In his opening match James beat Fridolf Lundsten of Finland. In his following match James lost to the American Guy Lookabough. Lookabough went on to lose to Switzerland's Hermann Gehri in the final. This gave Gehri the gold medal but the rules of the tournament stipulated Lookabough must then take part in a tournament to find the silver medal winner. As James Davis had lost to the runner-up in the final he took part in a tournament to determine the bronze medal winner. Four competed in the bronze medal tournament and James lost his semi final match against the American William Johnson.

George Gardiner George Gardiner was the most successful of the UK wrestling team when he took part in the lightweight freestyle competition of the 1924 Olympics. He won three matches, though Andrew McDonald, by a strange turn of events, won a bronze medal without winning a match. George, from Stirlingshire, was the brother of professional wrestler Bob Gardiner. George had wins over Osvald Kapp (Estonia), Edouard Belet (Switzerland) and then lost to Finland's Volmar Wikstrom in the semi final. To determine the bronze medal winner he was then entered into a tournament with three others who had lost to Wikstrom (who went on to win silver). George defeated Etienne Jourdain of France but then lost to Arvo Haavisto of Finland. Haavisto was awarded the bronze medal and George Gardiner settled for fourth place. A few weeks later, on 11th September, 1924, George Gardiner died suddenly. Newspapers reported the cause of death as pneumonia, elsewhere we have read that he was being treated for a knee injury.

Victor Lay Victor Lay competed in the 1924 light heavyweight freestyle competition. He was beaten in his first round match by Iisakki Mylläri of Russia. Victor was born in Suffolk on 26th August, 1897. Victor was a policeman awarded the King George Vi Medal for Exemplary Police Service.

George MacKenzie By 1924 George MacKenzie was a veteran of the Olympics, with the 1924 freestyle featherweight tournament being his fourth games. He was beaten in his opening contest against of Denmark. Aage Torgensen

Donald Archibald "Archie" MacDonald Andrew McDonald made his second visit to the Olympics when he competed in the heavyweight freestyle competition in 1924. His hopes were to improve on his 1920 placing of 5th. This he did. In fact he won a bronze medal, but by a strange turn of events did it without winning a match. Hardly satisfying, even to himself we would have thought. Andrew had a bye through to the second round. In that round he lost to Harry Steel of the USA. Steel went on to beat Ernst Nilsson in the final. This gave Steel the gold medal but the rules of the tournament stipulated Nilsson must then take part in a tournament to find the silver medal winner. Andrew McDonald also had a place in this tournament as a result of being eliminated by the tournament champion, Steel. McDonald again had a bye in the first round (semi final) of the Silver Medal competition. In the other semi final Henri Wernli beat Ernst Nilsson. Having already made his way to the final to lose to gold medal winner Steel we think Ernst must have been feeling pretty cheesed off by now. McDonald with his bye now wrestled Wernli in the silver medal final and lost, leaving Wernli with silver. As he had been eliminated by the silver medal winner this gave Andrew McDonald a place in the bronze medal tournament. There were four in the tournament: Andrew McDonald, Ernst Nilsson, Johann Richtoff and Edmond Dame. Nilsson, Richthoff, and Dame refused to compete, leaving Andrew McDonald awarded the bronze medal.

Bernard Rowe Bernard Rowe, a policeman from Nottingham, made his Olympics debut when he competed in the 1924 middleweight freestyle competition. He lost his first round match against Switzerland's Ernst Tognetti. Bernard was British light heavyweight champion in 1928, 1929 and 1933 middleweight champion in 1929, 1931 and 1932.

Noel Rhys Noel Rhys returned for his third Olympic Games in the 1924 middleweight freestyle competition. A first round bye led to a quarter final win over Carl Nilsson (Sweden) followed by a loss against Fritz Hagemann (Switzerland). Hagemann went on to beat Pierre Ollivier in the final. This gave Hagemann the gold medal but the rules of the tournament stipulated Pierre Ollivier must then take part in a tournament to find the silver medal winner. Noel Rhys also had a place in this tournament as a result of being eliminated by the tournament champion, Fritz Hagemann. Noel Rhys lost the semi final of the silver medal tournament against Pierre Ollivier.

Albert Sangwine Albert Sangwine competed in the freestyle heavyweight competition of the 1924 Olympics. He lost his opening match against Sweden's Johan Richthoff.

Harold Sansum Harold Sansum made the first of his two Olympic journeys in the 1924 freestyle bantamweight competition. He defeated Canada's James Trifunov in the first round and lost to Finland's Kaarlo Makinen in the second round. As Makinen went on to win the silver medal this loss gained Harold entry to a tournament to determine the bronze medal winner. He was matched with Gaston Decayla of France, and was beaten.

George Stott George Stott made his Olympic debut in the 1924 freestyle featherweight competition. He was beaten in his opening match against the Australian Claude Angelo. George was born in Bradford in 1888, and served as a fire fighter. He was British featherweight champion in 1914 and 1919. He died in 1969.

Walter Wilson Walter Wilson's Olympic dream had lasted 24 seconds when he had made his debut four years earlier. He returned to compete in the 1924 light heavyweight freestyle competition.

He had a much longer outing this time around. In the first round he lost his opening match against the American John Spellman. Spellman went on to beat Johan Rudolf Svensson in the final. This gave Spellman the gold medal but the rules of the tournament stipulated Johan Svensson must then take part in a tournament to find the silver medal winner. Walter Wilson also had a place in this tournament as a result of being eliminated by the tournament champion, Spellman. Walter Wilson won his Silver medal tournament semi final, beating the Canadian George Rumple. In the final Walter lost against Johan Svensson, giving Svensson the silver medal. As he had been eliminated by the silver medal winner Walter Wilson now had a place in the bronze medal tournament. There were five competitors in the bronze medal tournament. Four of them, included Walter Wilson, withdrew from the competition, leaving Charles Courant to claim the bronze medal.

1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands 17th May - 12th August Controversy surrounded the opening of the games when Queen Wilhelmina arranged a visit to Norway, against her Government's wishes, and was the first Head of State unavailable to open the Games. In the years that followed various rumours persisted explaining the Queen's non-appearance. The release of official papers eventually revealed Queen Wilhelmina postponed her return from Norway because she was aggrieved that she had not been consulted on the precise date of the opening ceremony. Controversy aside the Olympic Games went ahead with great success; 1928 being the first year that women were allowed to participate in track and field athletics, the austerity of the post war years having passed whilst the depression of the 1930s, Hitler's political interference and post world war 2 boycotts remained into the future.

Harold Angus Harold Angus was destined to become one of the greats of the modern professional wrestling world. A master of the Lancashire catch-as-catch-can style he was rated by wrestling historian Charles Mascall as the fourth greatest professional welterweight of all time. Usually billed from Doncaster Harold was actually born in Wigan in 1904, leaving both the red and white roses to lay claim to this pre war great. He won the British featherweight title in 1928, and competed in the Featherweight freestyle event of the 1924 Olympics, where he defeated Estonian Eduard Putsep in the preliminary round and lost in the quarter finals to Canadian Daniel MacDonald.

Robert Cook In 1928 Robert Cook represented the United Kingdom in the freestyle welterweight division at the Olympic Games. Robert had already won the British lightweight championship in 1927, and both welterweight and middleweight championships in 1928 before his selection for Britain's Olympic team at welterweight. With an unfortunate draw he was finally placed fifth of the eleven. In his opening contest he lost to the eventual silver medal winner Lloyd Appleton of the United States of America. As with the previous Games this took Robert through to the bronze medal competition. In this match he came up against Maurice Letchford of Canada who went on to win bronze. Following the Olympic Games Robert Cook established himself as a top professional of the 1930s wrestling the likes of Richard Willis, Mario Magisti and Bert Assirati. Robert Cook trained at the Ashdown Club alongside Athol Oakeley, Bill Garnon and Bert Assirati. By 1937 Robert Cook was widely recognised as British and European Light Heavyweight Champion. The precise lineage of the championship belt is unclear, but it seems likely that Cook won the British championship at Belle Vue on 8th May 1936. Robert's grandson, Timothy Cook, has been in touch with Wrestling Heritage and provided information and photographs about his grandfather's wrestling career. George MacKenzie When George MacKenzie competed in the 1928 lightweight freestyle competition he was an Olympics veteran, having taken part in 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1924 Now 39 he must have known this was his last chance of Olympic glory. George was eliminated in the first round, going out to first class opposition, Finland's Eino Leino. Leino was one of only four wrestlers to win medals at four consecutive Olympics. George won the British lightweight title when he was 19 and five more times, the last being in 1941 when he was 42 years old. For good measure he added the featherweight title in 1921, 1922 and 1924. George Mackenzie was a coach at the Ashdown Club in Islington and known as Britain's "Mr Wrestling. " His influence on British wrestling becomes apparent when it is remembered he trained Bulldog Bill Garnon, Atholl Oakeley and Bert Assirati. George was to go on to officiate a further four Olympic Games, was elected secretary of the British Amateur Wrestling Association and was chosen to carry the flag for Great Britain in the 1956 Olympic Games.

Samuel Rabinovitch Samuel Rabinovitch was born in Manchester in 1903, the son of Jacob and Sarah Rabinovitch, Jewish exiles from Belarus. He won a bronze medal in the freestyle middleweight division in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. With nine competitors in the freestyle middleweight competition Sam Rabinovitch was one of the fortunate seven who were drawn a bye into the second round. He lost his opening match against Canadian Donald Stockton. As Stockton went on to win the silver medal Sam was awarded a place in the competition for bronze medal. He beat the American Ralph Hammonds and South African Anton Praeg to be awarded the bronze medal. Sam Rabin was not just an accomplished wrestler, but a highly acclaimed artist whose paintings have sold at Christies auction house. Sam's background was interesting to say the least. He won a scholarship when he was 11 years old to become the youngest every student enrolled to the Manchester Municipal School of Art. He went on to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and on to Paris where was greatly influenced by Charles Despiau, the sculptor . Following his Olympic success Sam pursued his artistic career, commissioned by architect Charles Holden to carve West Wind, one of eight personifications of the four winds for the headquarters of the London Underground, two decorative winged masks, The Past and The Future, for the Daily Telegraph building in Fleet Street. With all-in wrestling rapidly gaining popularity there was a need for new talent, and Sam proved a perfect recruit. He turned professional and shortened his name to Rabin, also using the names Sam Radnor and The Cat. Bernard Rowe Bernard Rowe had previously competed in the 1924 middleweight competition. The policeman from Nottingham returned to take part in the freestyle light heavyweight competition of the 1928 Olympic Games. He lost his opening match against Jacques Van Assche of Belgium.

Harold Sansum Harold Sansum was the sole UK competitor in the 1928 freestyle bantamweight competition, this being his second, and most successful, Olympics. He lost his opening match, beaten by Finland's Kaarlo Mäkinen. As Makinen went on to win the tournament and gold medal Harold competed in the tournament for silver medal. Having beaten the American Robert Hewitt he lost to Belgian Edmond Spapen in the final, giving Spapen the silver medal. Canadian James Trifunov defeated Harold to take the bronze medal; a disappointing result as Harold had beaten the Canadian four years earlier 1932 Los Angeles, USA 30th July - 14th August The Olympic Games left Europe for the second time in 1932 and took place in Los Angeles. The turnout of international competitors was low, a result of the economic gloom and longer travel distances for European athletes. Britain sent two competitors for the wrestling competition.

Joseph Reid Born in 1905 and growing up in an area steeped in catch wrestling tradition Joe Reid was trained by fellow Leigh wrestler Harry Pennington. Joe competed in the freestyle bantamweight competition of the Olympics. He was eliminated after losing two of his three matches in the freestyle bantamweight division and finished fifth in the placings. The victory was over Greece's Georgios Zervinis, a veteran of three Olympic Games. Joe's two losses were against the eventual gold and bronze medal winners, American Bob Pearce and Finland's Aatos Jaskari. In Britain he was unassailable in the bantamweight division and won the British bantamweight championship every year from 1931 to 1935. Shortly after his 1935 win Joe turned professional, almost midget like in comparison with most of those who wrestled in the 1930s All-in rings. His professional career extended throughout the 1950s and sprawled into the mid sixties by which time he was an occasional feature on the independent bills of the north. Joseph William Taylor Joe Taylor was born in Bradford on 18th November, 1907, and competed in the 1932 Olympic Games in the freestyle featherweight competition. He beat Einar Karlsson of Sweden in his opening match and went on to lose to the Mexican Fidel Arellano. In the subsequent tournament for the silver medal he had a bye to the final, where he lost out to Ed Nemir of the United States. Joe was British featherweight champion in 1931, 1932 and 1937 (with Norman Morrell champion during the intervening years. He was champion for a fourth time in 1947. Joe's nephew, Jack, went on to compete in the 1956 Olympics. Joe Taylor died in 1992. 1936 Berlin, Germany 2nd - 16th August These were the Olympics of the Hitler propaganda machine; superbly stage managed and yet Hitler's Aryan supremacy theories were upturned by an American athlete who dominated the Games, Jesse Owens. In both freestyle and Greco-Roman were a negative (bad) points system was used. A win by fall earned 0 points, winning by unanimous decision gained 1 point. A loss by majority decision (2-1) cost 2 points, and a loss by unanimous decision or fall cost 3 points. Wrestlers were eliminated when they accumulated 5 points, guaranteeing everyone at least two matches.

Raymond Cazaux Nineteen year old Ray Cazaux of Liverpool was the youngest of the UK's six wrestlers when he competed in the freestyle bantamweight competition of 1936. He won the first of his three matches, against Kojiro Tamba of Japan, but went on to lose against bronze medal winner Johannes Herbert of Germany and Ahmet Çakıryıldız of Turkey. Ray had a long and distinguished amateur career, first winning the British bantamweight championship in 1936 and repeating the performance in 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948, going on to win the featherweight championship in 1949, 1950 and 1951. During the Second World War Ray served in the Royal Artillery and was taken prisoner of war in Korea. He survived the experience, returned home to marry a Yorkshire girl in 1946 and was all set for the 1948 Olympics.

William Fox William Fox was a Manchester fire fighter who competed in the 1936 freestyle welterweight competition. He won his opening contest, against Shoichi Masutomi of Japan. He lost his second match, against Turkey's Hüseyin Erçetin. With only one loss this should have kept William Fox in the event, but he withdrew from the competition, due to injury according to one newspaper report.

Leslie Jeffers Leslie Jeffers was a policeman who competed in the 1936 freestyle middleweight competition. He lost his opening match against Jaroslav Sysel of Czechoslovakia. He remained in the competition with a victory over Canadian Terry Evans before elimination when beaten by Emile Poilve of France (not to be confused with the professional referee of that name).

Norman Morrell Norman Morrell needs no introduction to post war professional wrestling fans as a cornerstone of the mighty Joint Promotion organisation. Most are well aware of his amateur credentials as they were proudly proclaimed on many of the wrestling programmes we bought. In the 1936 Olympic Games Norman Morrell competed in both the Greco Roman and freestyle competitions in the featherweight class. In the Greco Roman competition he lost to the French wrestler Eugene Kracher and the German Sebastian Hering. In the freestyle competition he opened with a win over Germany's Josef Bock before going on to be beaten and eliminated by the eventual silver medal winner, Frank Millard of the USA, and the Italian Marco Gavelli. On the domestic scene Morrell was near invincible at his weight. He was British featherweight champion for four consecutive years, from 1933 to 1936. Following his inclusion in the 1936 Olympics team he went on to wrestle professionally, but is mostly celebrated as one of the architects of post war British wrestling. Norman Morrell was a founder member of Joint Promotions and author of the rules of post war wrestling, the Admiral Lord Mountevans rules. Norman Morrell was born in Bradford on 17th July, 1912.

Arthur Thompson Arthur Thompson competed in the 1936 freestyle lightweight competition. He lost both his matches, against Gote Melin of Sweden and the eventual bronze medal winner, Hermanni Pihlajamäki of Finland.

Thomas Ward Thomas Ward competed in the 1936 freestyle light heavyweight competition and was beaten by Mustafa Avcioğlu-Çakmak of Turkey and Ray Clemons of the USA.

K

Jack Taylor

Keith Haward

Stan Bissell Ken Richmond

1948 London, United Kingdom 26th July - 14th August For the Olympics it was business as usual as quickly as possible following the end of the Second World War. So it was that despite hardship, rationing and the weariness of warfare the Olympic Games returned to London. Business as usual except for the omission of the USSR, who chose not to take part, and Japan and Germany, who were not invited to the party. Taking advantage of host nation the UK was well represented in the wrestling competitions. Unsurprisingly, in view of the passage of time only one wrestler, Ray Cazaux, made a return to the Olympics. Once again a negative (bad) points system was used. A win by fall earned 0 points, winning by unanimous decision gained 1 point. A loss by majority decision (2-1) cost 2 points, and a loss by unanimous decision or fall cost 3 points. Wrestlers were eliminated when they accumulated 5 points, guaranteeing everyone at least two matches.

Stan Bissell Stanley John Bissell, born in October 1906, was one of the British representatives in the 1948 Olympics. Robbed by the war years of some of his peak years he was forty-one years old in 1948, the oldest competitor in the Games. Stan had previously represented his country in the 1930 and 1934 Commonwealth Games, and so who knows what he might have achieved had the Games taken place in 1940 and 1944? . Between times Stan was a Police Sergeant instructor in unarmed combat. He had joined the Metropolitan Police in 1926, and during the war was an instructor at the Commando Basic Training Centre. Stan was also a fourth Dan black belt in judo and was well respected by Georges Hackesnschmidt who was a regular visitor to his training sessions. Stan was eliminated in the second round of the Olympics, losing to the Austrian Anton Vogel and then conceding a fall after nine minutes to the Belgian Jean Baptiste Benoy. Benoy later wrestled professionally in Britain. "Stan Bissell was a real character, a gentleman in every sense of the word," according to historian Allan Best. Stan died at his home in Wiltshire in 1999, aged 92.

Edwin Bowey Islington's Eddie Bowey got off to a flying start in the 1948 freestyle middleweight wrestling competition, with a decisive win over the Mexican Eduardo Assam. He was beaten in his second match, defeated by French wrestler André Brunaud. Eddie was eliminated in the following match when he confronted the eventual silver medal winner Adil Candemir.

Raymond Cazaux Ray Cazux was the only member of the 1948 Olympic wrestling team who had represented their country in the previous Olympics, twelve years earlier. For Ray it had been an eventful twelve years; winning five British championships, being taken prisoner of war and getting married. In 1948 he competed in the freestyle bantamweight competition.

Ray won his opening match, beating Francisco Vicera of the Philippines. Egypt's Sayed Hafez was also swept away with Ray beaten by the silver medallist, American Gerry Leeman.

Don Irvine Don Irvine took part in the first of his two Olympic Games when he competed in the welterweight Freestyle competition in 1948. In his two matches Don lost to Bev Scott of Australia and Japan's Tsugio Yamazaki. Don Irvine was British welterweight champion on no fewer than six occasions, consecutively from 1946 until 1950, and again in 1952. Add to that the British middleweight championship in 1949 and light heavyweight in 1951. Not bad.

Ken Irvine In the 1948 Olympic Games Ken Irvine took part in the Greco Roman styles bantamweight competition. He lost his first match against Nikolaos Biris of Greece, stayed in the competition by virtue of a bye in the second round but was then eliminated when he came up against the Argentine Elvidio Flamini in his third match. Following the Olympics he won the British featherweight championship in 1949 and the bantamweight championship in 1952, 1953 and 1961.

Peter Luck Peter Luck competed in the freestyle lightweight competition in 1948, eliminated in the second round. He was beaten in his first match by Canada's Morgan Plumb, and in his second by László Bakos of Brazil.

Walter McGuffie Walter McGuffie was a warehouse man in his home town of Bolton who competed in the Flyweight Greco Roman competition in the 1948 Olympics. He lost both his contests, against the Egyptian Mohamed Abdel-El and the Norwegian Frithjof Clausen. Initially trained by his father and later at the Bolton Harriers Walter was British flyweight champion in 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1949. Dad obviously did a good job.

James Mortimer James (Jack) Mortimer competed in the featherweight Greco Roman competition of the 1948 Olympics. He lost his opening match against Antoine Merle of France and his second match against the eventual bronze medal winner, Ferenc Tóth of Hungary.

Raymond Myland Ray Myland, from Stalbans, made the first of his two visits to the Olympic Games in 1948 when he wrestled in the lightweight Greco Roman competition. He was unfortunate to be drawn against the Swede, Gustav Freij, in his opening match. Freij went on to win the gold medal, the first of three Olympic medals he was to win. Ray was eliminated in his second match, which he lost against Turkey's Ahmet Şenol. Raymond had won the British lightweight championship in 1947, and following the Olympics he went on to win the welterweight championship in 1951, lightweight championship in 1952 and the middleweight championship in 1958.

Fritz "Fred" Oberlander Fred Oberlander competed in the 1948 freestyle heavyweight competition. Born in Austria Fred represented Austria, Britain and Canada at various times in his career. He turned down the chance to represent Austria in the 1936 Olympics but did represent Britain in the 1948 Olympics, and was captain of the British Olympic Wrestling Team. He was unfortunate to lose both his matches beaten by bronze medal winner Jim Armstrong (Australia) and the Czechoslovakian Josef Růžička. Over a twenty year period beginning in 1930 he was twice Austrian Junior champion, five times French Heavyweight Champion, and eight times British heavyweight champion. He later emigrated to Canada and in 1953, he won the Maccabiah Games Heavyweight Wrestling Championship and was proclaimed Outstanding Jewish World Athlete, receiving the award from Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. An entire floor in the Pierre Gildesgame (Maccabi) Sport Museum in Ramat Gan, Israel, is named in his honour.

Harry Parker Harry Parker competed in the Freestyle flyweight competition in 1948. He had a bye through to the second round. In his second match Harry lost to the bronze medal winner Thure Johansson of Norway. He remained in the competition but withdrew before his next contest.

Arnold Parsons Arnold Parsons had good credentials coming from the Ashdown Club in Islington. They served him well when he competed in the 1948 Olympic Games in the featherweight freestyle competition.

In his first match he beat India's Sarjarao B. Suryavanshi. Not so fortunate in his second match, in which he lost against Belgium's Antoine Raeymaeckers. Arnold was back to winning form with a win over the Italian Marco Gavelli. The end came in the fourth round of the competition with Arnold holding out for nine minutes before beaten by the bronze medal winner Adolf Müller.

Leonard Pidduck The British Olympic wrestling team never seemed short of a policeman and Constable Pidduck was another one. Len Pidduck competed in the 1948 Olympic Games in the Greco Roman heavyweight event. In the qualifications he had beaten the great Fred Oberlander, British heavyweight champion, which must have given the young Londoner a huge boost. Len had an unfortunate draw, losing his opening match against the eventual silver medal winner Tor Nilsson of Sweden. In the second round he was beaten by Switzerland's Moritz Inderbitzin. Ken Richmond Famous as the man who banged the gong at the start of Rank Organisation films Ken Richmond was one of the outstanding wrestlers in our Olympic legacy, according to Allan Best. Ken had a background in judo, but with a height of 6'2" and stocky build he was well suited to wrestling. Ken participated in four Olympic Games, making his debut in London in 1948 and completing the quartet in the 1960 Rome Games. In 1948 he was a creditable fifth in the Light heavyweight Greco Roman competition. Ken was beaten by the Egyptian Ibrahim Orabi in his first match, with Orabi going on to take the gold medal. A bye in the second round led to a win over a veteran from the 1936 Games, Mustafa Avcioğlu-Çakmak of Turkey. In the fourth round Ken came up against the man who was to go on to win gold, Karl-Erik Nilsson, and held Swede for more than nine minutes.

John Sullivan John Sullivan competed in the 1948 light heavyweight freestyle competition. He was already an accomplished amateur having won the British light heavyweight championship for four consecutive years from 1945 until 1948 and the British middleweight championship in 1947. In the Olympic Games he won his opening match against József Tarányi of Hungary. He then faced the eventual gold medal winner, America's Henry Wittenberg, and lost for the first time. Another defeat, and elimination from the competition, followed when he was outpointed by the South African Pat Morton.

James Wilson James Wilson competed in the Welterweight Greco Roman competition in the 1948 Olympic Games. He was eliminated from the competition after suffering two defeats, losing to the Austrian, Josef Schmidt, and Belgium's Julien Dobbelaere.

1952 Helsinki, Finland 14th July – 3rd August The Helsinki Olympics were notable by the participation of the USSR, the first time they had taken part since the 1917 Revolution. The Soviets came, but these were the cold war Olympics with a separate Olympic Village for the athletes of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR. East and West Germany were permitted a combined team. Leslie Cheetham Bolton's Leslie Cheetham competed in the freestyle flyweight competition in 1952. He was eliminated in the second round following defeats by Heini Weber from Germany and the eventual gold medal winner, Hasan Gemicim of Turkey. In 1951 he would win the British Bantamweight Championship.

Herbie Hall A member of Bolton United Harriers Wrestling Club Herbie Hall was destined to become one of the great British amateur champions yet he failed to make much of an impression when he competed in the featherweight freestyle competition of 1952. Herbie was an eight time British featherweight champion, wining the championship consecutively from 1952 until 1957 and again in 1951 and 1963. In 1958 and 1959 he added the British lightweight championship to his credentials. Herbie lost both his matches, a creditable points decision against the eventual silver medal winner, Nasser Givehchi of Iran, and Egypt's Abdel Fattah Essawi.

Don Irvine Don Irvine was British welterweight champion on no fewer than six occasions, consecutively from 1946 until 1950, and again in 1952. Add to that the British middleweight championship in 1949 and light heavyweight in 1951. Having competed at London in 1948 he returned to take part in the 1952 Helsinki Games, in the welterweight freestyle competition. Again he made an early exit from the competition, losing points decisions against Bev Scott of Australia and Tsugio Yamazaki of Japan.

Ken Irvine Ken Irvine had wrestled in the London Olympics four years earlier, going on to win the British featherweight championship in 1949 and the bantamweight championship in 1952, The bantamweight championships of 1953 and 1961 were still in the future. In 1952 he wrestled in the bantamweight freestyle competition. A good start saw a unanimous points win over Omar Blebel of Argentina. Ken went on to lose his next two matches, against the eventual gold medal winner, Shohachi Ishii of Japan and Edvin Vesterby of Sweden.

Raymond Myland Ray Myland made his second appearance in the Olympic Games, having featured in London four years earlier. Since then he had won the welterweight championship in 1951, lightweight championship in 1952 and would go on to win the middleweight championship in 1958. In the 1952 Olympics Ray competed in the lightweight freestyle competition. He lost both his matches in 1952, against Tevfik Uce of Turkey, and the eventual bronze medal winner, Tofigh Jahanbakht of Iran.

Ken Richmond The crowning glory of Ken Richmond's considerable Olympic achievements came in the 1952 Olympics when he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight class. For good measure he also won both bronze and gold medals in the Commonwealth Games. On his journey to the bronze medal Ken defeated Argentinian Adolfo Ramirez and a 19 year old Hungarian by the name Jozsef Kovacs in the second round. Kovacs, of course, was to go on to international fame as a heavyweight professional, spending much of his career in the United Kingdom. In match three he was beaten by the eventual Gold medal winner. Arsen Mek'ok'ishvili of the USSR. German Willi Waltner was next to fall to the almost unstoppable Briton. Almost, but not quite. It was a Swede, and silver medal winner Bertil Antonsson, who finally deprived Ken of progress beyond the bronze medal, taking almost ten minutes to pin the Briton. No wonder Allan Best said Ken Richmond was "Our greatest Olympic heavyweight."

1956 Melbourne, Australia 22nd November - 8th December, 1956 The first time the Olympic Games were held in the southern hemisphere and they were held against a background of political turmoil; Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in October leading to the withdrawal from the Games of Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq, Soviet troops invaded Budapest, Hungary, in November, and The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland withdrew.

George Farquhar Every Olympic competitor has tales to tell their grandchildren. Scotland's George Farquahar, who competed in the 1956 middleweight freestyle competition has better tales than many. He didn't just lose his first round match to the eventual silver medal winner, he lost it to a man who went on to become one of the greatest professional wrestlers of the twentieth century, Junior Heavyweight champion Danny Hodge. In his second match George lost to the Australian William Davies. George went on to win the British welterweight championship in 1953 and the British middleweight championship in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1963. Herbie Hall The mill worker from Bolton in Lancashire spent much of his childhood living in Canada, but the family returned home and he went on to win ten national championships. Having competed at Helsinki in 1952 he returned to Olympic competition in 1956. again in the featherweight freestyle competition. Once again the draw was unkind to Herbie. In his opening match he was beaten by the wrestler who went on to win the bronze medal, Erkki Penttilä of Finland. Things got no better in his second match, losing to the 1952 silver medal winner, and vanquishor in those Games, Nasser Givehchi of Iran. Herbie Hall died in 2013, aged 86.

Ken Richmond Our greatest Olympian heavyweight returned in 1956 intent on improving his bronze medal acquisition of four years earlier. He came close, but it was not to be, with Ken coming fourth. Ken made a promising start with a convincing win over Lila Ram of India. The Russian wrestler Ivan Vykhristyuk proved a much more formidable opponent and defeated Ken. He remained in the running for a medal with a win over American William Kerslake before having his dream dashed by silver medal winner Yusein Mekhmedov of Bulgaria.

Jack Taylor Bradford's Jack Taylor was the cousin of Heavy middleweight champion Eric Taylor. Jack's father Thomas was an amateur champion of the 1930s and his brother Barry was a Yorkshire champion. A bricklayer by trade Jack trained many amateurs and aspiring professionals in Bradford, being responsible for the development of many young wrestlers of the 1960s and 1970s. Jack Taylor represented Britain in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, competing in the lightweight freestyle class. Jack won one of his three matches, returning home with honour but without honours. In his opening match he was beaten by American Tommy Evans, who had won silver four years later. In his second Match Jack beat Mateo Tanaquin of the Phillipines. A second loss meant elimination and was beaten by Muhammad Ashraf of Pakistan. Jack had a short lived professional career, and was the opponent for Jeff Kaye when he made his paid debut. He was, nonetheless, an influential figure in professional circles as he trained dozens of professional hopefuls. Jack Taylor died in 2016. 1960 Rome, Italy 25th August - 11th September, 1960 Italy finally had the opportunity to host the Olympic Games, having turned down their chance in 1908 following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In comparison with the Melbourne Olympics the 1960 Rome event was devoid of controversy. Wrestling competitions were held in the Basilica di Massenzio, where similar events had taken place two thousand years earlier.

Peter Amey Peter Amey confronted Muhammad Bashir of Pakistan in his opening match of the 1960 welterweight freestyle competition. It was a tough draw with Bashir going on to win the bronze medal. Peter fought well and Bashir won the match with a fall one second short of ten minutes. Peter was more fortunate in his second match with a win over Sultan Mohammad Dost of Afghanistan. Sweden's Åke Carlsson came up next, with the Swede taking the decision. Peter went on to win the British championships at welterweight in 1961, 1967,1969 and 1970, and lightweight in 1962.

Albert Aspen Wrestling fans of the 1960s may well remember reading of the exploits of Albert Aspen, Ken Stephenson, Denis McNamara, Tony Shacklady, and Ron Grinstead in the pages of The Wrestler magazines. Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club produced Olympic stalwart, Albert Aspen, who competed in the featherweight freestyle competition in the 1960 Olympic Games.

In 1960 Albert was beaten in his first match, against South African Abe Geldenhuys. His second match, against Germany's Christian Luschnig ended in a draw but the negative points system resulted in Albert's elimination. One of Britain's greatest amateurs Albert won the British featherweight championship in 1958, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1967 and the lightweight championship in 1961.

Alan Butts Birmingham's Alan Butts wrestled in the middleweight freestyle competition in the 1960 Olympic Games. Alan lost both his matches, against Madho Singh of India and Viljo Punkari of Finland. He won the British middleweight championship in 1960. Walter Pilling Walter Pilling, from Bradford, made the first of his two Olympic Games appearances when he competed in the 1960 Bantamweight freestyle competition. He lost both his matches, against Muhammad Siraj-Din of Pakistan, and Eduardo Campbell of Panama. Walter had won the British flyweight championship in 1952 and 1953 and the bantamweight title in 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1964.

Ken Richmond Erstwhile medal winner Ken Richmond arrived for his fourth Olympic Games in 1960, again competing in the freestyle heavyweight competition. This time Ken had to settle for ninth place. He beat Afghanistan's Nizam-ud-din Subhani in his opening match and then went on to lose to American William Kerslake and Hungarian János Rezná.

Ken's life changed in the late 1960s when his pacifist beliefs attracted him to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for whom he later began full time work and spent two years in Malta as a missionary. He continued wrestling after becoming a Jehovah's Witness until time caught up with him and he was too old to wrestle.

Then he took up windsurfing.

Kenneth Stephenson Kenny Stephenson of Bury made his Olympic debut in the 1960 Games, competing in the lightweight freestyle competition. In his first match he lost to the Lebanon's Nazem Amin, and in his second was beaten by Ray Lougheed of Canada. Kenny Stephenson won the British lightweight championship in 1960, 1965 and 1966.

1964 Tokyo, Japan 11th - 24th October, 1964 The first Olympic Games to be held in an Asian country with the final torch bearer being Yoshinori Sakai, a man born in Hiroshima on the day the atom bomb was dropped on the city. Leonard Allen Len Allen competed in the Welterweight freestyle competition in 1964. His opening match, against Shakar Khan Shakar of Afghanistan. He recorded a loss in his second match, beaten by the Argentine wrestler Julio Graffigna. It was the end of the road for Len in his third match, losing to India's Madho Singh.

Albert Aspen Boltonian Albert Aspen returned to compete in 1964, again in the featherweight freestyle competition. The East Europeans were on the March and in his first match Albert was beaten by the eventual silver medallist Stancho Ivanov of Bulgaria. Another hard match, against the 5th placed Mohammad Ebrahimi of Afghanistan saw Albert eliminated from the competition. Albert would return to the 1968 and 1976 Olympics in the capacity of coach. One of Britain's greatest amateurs Albert won the British featherweight championship in 1958, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1967 and the lightweight championship in 1961.As national coach for the British Wrestling Association Albert trained hundreds of young amateurs, including his son, Brian.

Tony Buck Anthony Jude Joseph "Tony" Buck competed in the Light heavyweight freestyle competition in 1964. He lost his opening match on points against Japan's Shunichi Kawano. His second match was against an Olympic veteran, Gholam Reza Takhti of Iran. Gholam Reza Takhti was a four times world champion and winner of two silvers and a gold medal at previous Olympics. It was a difficult match for Tony, who was pinned and eliminated from the competition. Tony Buck was British light heavyweight champion in 1962, 1963 and 1965.

Denis McNamara London Policeman Denis McNamara certainly made his presence felt at the 1964 Olympics, where he competed in the Heavyweight freestyle competition. His opening match ended in a points decision defeat against India's Ganpat Andhalkar. Denis went on to beat Japan's Masanori Saito, who went on to wrestle professionally. Dennis was then beaten by the eventual silver medal winner. Lyutvi Akhmedov of Bulgaria. The bad points system meant Denis remained in the competition, but lost his next match against the bronze medal winner Hamit Kaplan of Turkey. Denis was British champion in 1962, 1963, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1972. Walter Pilling Walter Pilling returned to the Olympic Games in 1964 and once again competed in the Bantamweight freestyle competition. In his opening match he was drawn against the same Pakistani wrestler he had lost to four years earlier, Muhammad Siraj-Din. The result was the same, though this time Albert took the Pakistan wrestler to a points decision, having conceded a fall four years earlier. In his second match Walter was unfortunate to face the eventual Gold medal winner, Yojiro Uetake, of Japan.

Kenneth Stephenson Bury's Kenny Stephenson returned to the Olympic Games in 1964, competing again in the lightweight freestyle competition. He made a more promising start, losing on points against the man who would win gold four years later, Abdullah Movahed, of Iran. Things improved in match two with a win over the Mexican, Alejandro Echaniz. Elimination came in the third round of the competition with a loss against Sidney Marsh of Australia. Kenny Stephenson won the British lightweight championship in 1960, 1965 and 1966.

1968 Mexico City, Mexico 12th - 27th October, 1968 The Olympic Games came to Mexico, along with the intrusion of politics into the sporting events that took place. More than 250 students protesting against the cost of the Games were killed when the army opened fire on them; divided Germany sent two teams with one from the Democratic Republic and the other from the Federal Republic; and two black Americans stood on the podium and raised a singled black-gloved fist in their human rights protest.

Ron Grinstead Ronald Sydney Grinstead gave the British fans something to smile about when he made his Olympic debut in the 1968 Games in Mexico City. Ron competed in the Middleweight freestyle competition and progressed to the fourth round. His opening match, against Canadian Robert Chamberot resulted in a points decision win for the Londoner. In the second round of the competition he pinned Robert Nihon of the Bahamas. Ron met the first of his two defeats in the third round, losing a narrow decision against the eventual Gold medal winner Borys Hurevych. It was a close points decision again in the fourth round, this time beaten by the eventual bronze medal winner (and gold four years earlier) the Bulgarian Prodan Gardzhev.

John McCourtney In 1968 Glasgow's John McCourtney competed in the featherweight freestyle competition. He lost his two matches, against Romanian Petre Coman and the Hungarian József Rusznyák. John was only eighteen at the time, yet remarkably had been a reserve for the 1964 Tokyo team four years earlier, aged just fourteen. John McCourtney won the British featherweight championship in 1968.

Tony Shacklady The Olympic spirit was in the genes of Salford's Tony Shacklady. When he was two years old his father competed in the 1948 Olympic Games as a boxer. Tony Shacklady competed in the welterweight freestyle competition in 1968, the first of three Olympic Games. In his opening match Tony lost a points decision against the eventual bronze medal winner of the Greco Roman style, Hungarian Károly Bajkó. Fortune was no kinder in his second match. Even less so as Tony was drawn against the eventual bronze medal winner of the freestyle competition, Mongolia's Tömöriin Artag.

Roger Till Islington's Roger Till was at the 1968 Olympic Games, competing in the lightweight freestyle competition. Roger won one of his three matches. His opening match ended in defeat, pinned by the eventual silver medal winner, Klaus Rost of West Germany. His second match ended with a win against Ángel Aldama of Guatemala. Finally elimination came at the hands of Indian wrestler Udey Chand. 1972 Munich, West Germany 26th August - 11th September, 1972 Forever remembered as the Games that ended in tragedy. Terrorists took hostage members of the Israeli Team, murdered by a bomb planted in a helicopter that was to take them to freedom.

Richard Barraclough Richard Barraclough had won the British light heavyweight championship in 1970 and 1971 but dropped to middleweight to win the championship in 1972 and competed in the Olympic Games middleweight freestyle competition. In his opening match he confronted John Peterson, the American who went on to win the silver medal. Peterson pinned Richard Barraclough, but the Brit came back to win his second match, a points decision over Constant Bens of Belgium. The end of Richard's Olympic quest came in his third match, beaten by Peter Neumair of West Germany.

Kenneth Dawes Kenneth Dawes made his Olympic debut in the 1972 featherweight freestyle competition. He had already won the British featherweight championship in 1969 and 1970, and for good measure had also taken the lightweight championship in 1971. His Olympic quest ended after he was beaten by Canadian Pat Bolger and the Romanian Petre Coman.

Amrik Singh Gill Indian born Amrik Singh Gill made the first of three Olympic Games appearances in 1972, competing in the bantamweight freestyle competition. He was destined to return in 1976 and 1980. Amrik Singh Gill came as twice holder of the British bantamweight championship, which he was destined to win no fewer than six times more. He started the competition well, gaining the decision over the Peruvian wrestler Juan Verlade. In his second match he lost to Horst Mayer of East Germany, before going on to be eliminated by Iran's Ramezan Kheder.

Joe Gilligan Manchester's Joe Gilligan was eighteen years old when he competed in the 1972 lightweight freestyle competition, the first of two Olympic Games competitions. His opening match was a tough one, in which he lost to the eventual silver medal winner, Japan's Kikuo Wada. He came back from defeat to win his second match, a points decision over André Chardonnens of Switzerland. A second defeat, against Poland's Włodzimierz Cieślak, meant the end of the road for Joe. Joe Gilligan was the son of Stan Gilligan and nephew of Dennis Gilligan, both British champions.

Ron Grinstead Ron Grinstead had won his first British middleweight championship in 1962, won the title again in 1968, and competed at middleweight in the 1968 Games. Middleweight champion again in 1970 he won the light heavyweight title in 1972 and returned for the light heavyweight freestyle competition in that year. He lost both his matches, against the Bulgarian Rusi Petrov and Italian Umberto Archegonia. In his book, "The Biggest Fight" the boxer Michael Watson acknowledges the part played by Ron Grinstead in aiding his recovery.

Tony Shacklady Between his first Olympic appearances, in 1968, and his return in 1972, Tony Shacklady had won the British middleweight championship in 1969 and the welterweight championship in 1971 and 1972. Tony once again competed in the welterweight freestyle competition. With the ill fortune of being drawn against two eventual medal winners four years earlier Tony must have hoped for better luck this time around. There was no medal winner this time but the result was the same as Tony lost a points decision against Czechoslovakian Miroslav Musil. His second match also ended in defeat, again a points decision, against Turkey's Mehmet Ali Demirtaş.

1976 Montreal, Canada 18th July – 1st August, 2016 The human tragedy of Munich was followed by the financial turmoil of Montreal, leaving Canadian citizens repaying the debt for years to come.

Maurice Allan Edinburgh's Maurice Allan had won the British light heavyweight championship for four consecutive years from 1973 onwards when he competed in the light heavyweight freestyle competition of the 1976 Olympics; but that was only the start of an incredible life. More of that later, we'll begin with the Olympics. In his opening match Maurice lost a points decision against Sweden's Frank Andersson. He came back in his second match when he pinned Senegal's Ambroise Sarr. Match number three and Maurice confronted the eventual Gold medal winner Levan Tediashvili; pinned and out of the tournament. That may have been the end of Maurice's Olympic ambitions, but the start of a long and successful life. Not just as a British judo champion, recipient of an MBE, and a move to America where he opened a judo school in Virginia and taught unarmed combat to SWAT teams and drug enforcement officers.

Kenneth Dawes When Kenny Dawes returned for his second Olympic Games in the featherweight freestyle competition of 1976 he had recently won the British featherweight championship for a third time, having previously won it in 1969 and 1970. In addition to featherweight honours Kenny won the British lightweight championship in 1971 and 1977. History repeated itself and he lost both his matches, against Russia's Sergey Timofeyev and West Germany's Eduard Giray.

Amrik Singh Gill Five times British bantamweight champion Amrik Singh Gillr returned for a second crack at the Bantamweight freestyle competition in 1976. His dream was short lived, eliminated after two losses, against Mexican Moises López and Jorge Ramos of Cuba.

Joe Gilligan Joe Gilligan had accomplished himself well in his first Olympic competition and returned for another crack in the lightweight freestyle competition in 1976. Following the 1972 Olympics he had won the British lightweight championship for four consecutive years from 1973 onwards. He got off to a cracking start, pinning the Argentine, Sergio Fiszman, in under three minutes. He lost his second match, against East Germany's Eberhard Probst, and was pinned by another German, this time from the West, Gerhard Weisenberger. In total Joey won the lightweight championship seven times and the welterweight championship in 1979.

Keith Haward Here's a name known to the professional fans of the 1980s. Keith Haward could well have been a household name for years to come had it not been for the demise of tv wrestling. In the 1980s he was one of the few new entrants that didn't just ooze class but could engage the fans; a wonderful antidote to the shenanigans going on in many matches at the time.

It all began with first class amateur credentials that included competing in the welterweight freestyle competition in the 1976 Olympics. Keith lost his first two matches to the Romanian Marin Pircalabu and Jarmo Overmark of Finland, leading to his elimination. Turning professional he soon became Hurricane Haward and by the early 1980s he was established as a top class professional.

Keith Peache In 1976 Lewisham's Keith Peache entered the first of his two Olympic competitions, this one in the heavyweight freestyle competition. At the time he had already won the British heavyweight championship in 1974 and 1975, and would go on to win it again in 1977 and 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984 and 1985. He lost his opening match, against eventual silver medal winner Russ Hellickson of the USA. Another North American, Steve Daniar of Canada, finally put paid to Keith's dreams.

Tony Shacklady Was this the unluckiest man in Olympic wrestling? With disappointment in Mexico and Munich Tony Shacklady, by now an Olympic veteran, hoped for better fortunate on North American soil in 1976. He brought with him the confidence of a silver medal win in the 1974 Commonwealth Games. Alas, disappointment was again on it's way. He came up against another accomplished Olympian, John Peterson of the USA. Peterson had won silver four years earlier and wrestled Tony on his way to the gold medal in 1976. Things got little better in Tony's second match. Adolf Seger of West Germany was bronze medal winner in 1972 and he too wrestled Tony on his way to another medal, another bronze. In later life Tony joined the police force yet remained a significant figure in amateur wrestling as coach and Team Manager for England and Great Britain teams. Tony Shacklady died in 2014.

1980 Moscow, USSR 20th July – 3rd August In December, 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan. The following year around 63 countries boycotted the Olympic Games that were held in Moscow.

Brian Aspen The name of Aspen was already familiar to those who followed Olympic wrestling; Brian's father, Albert, having competed in the 1960 and 1964 Games. Like his father Brian was a trainee at Bolton's Olympic Wrestling Club. British featherweight champion in 1979 and 1980 he travelled to Los Angeles and competed in the featherweight freestyle competition. He lost his opening match against bronze medal winner Georgios Khatziioannidis of Greece. He entered the third round, courtesy of a bye, to lose a points decision against Aurel Şuteu of Romania. In future years he would add to his British championship credentials featherweight honours in 1984, 1986 and 1989, and Bantamweight in 1981,1982, 1983 and lightweight in 1994. Matthew Clempner Four times British super heavyweight champion (1979, 1980, 1989, 1990) Salford born Matthew Clempner travelled to Moscow in 1980 to compete in the Olympic Games super heavyweight freestyle competition. Matthew lost his opening match, against Peruvian Miguel Zambrano, and was eliminated in his second contest against the bronze medal winner, Adam Sandurski of Poland. That wasn't the end for Matthew, who worked for the Manchester police. He took up judo and became one of the highest qualified martial arts experts in the country.

Mark Dunbar Mark Dunbar, from Darwen in Lancashire, was just 19 years old when he wrestled in the Moscow Olympics, the first of his two Olympic competitions. He had already won the British light flyweight championship in 1978 and flyweight championship in 1979 and 1980.

In the opening match of his Olympic competition, in the flyweight freestyle tournament, Mark was beaten by the eventual bronze medal winner Nermedin Selimov of Bulgaria. Match number two was no easier, losing to an experienced Olympian, North Korea's Jang Dok-Ryong.

Amrik Singh Gill By the time he returned for his third Olympic Games in 1980 Amrik Singh Gill was an eight time winner of the British bantamweight champiosnhip. Was it to be third time lucky for when he returned to the bantamweight freestyle competition in 1980? Alas no. Two more defeats, against Poland's Wiesław Kończak and the eventual silver medal winner, Li Ho-Pyong of North Korea.

Keith Peache Multiple British heavyweight champion Keith Peach returned to the Olympic Games in 1980, this time as British light heavyweight champion competing in the freestyle light heavyweight competition. His hopes were short lived, losing against Cuba's Rafael Gómez and Ion Ivanov of Romania.

Fitz Walker Fitzlloyd Dean Walker was Jamaican born, lived in Manchester and was a trainee at the YMCA. He was also a competitor in the welterweight freestyle competition of the 1980 Olympic Games. Fitz had been introduced to the YMCA by one of his lecturers at North Trafford College in Manchester, Richard Barraclough. If you've been paying attention you will recall that Richard was a British amateur champion who competed in the 1972 Games. Fitz lost his opening match on points, against Hungarian István Fehér. Match two was a tough one and Fitz conceded a fall against a former world champion and gold medal winner, the mighty Russian Pavel Pinigin. The boy would be back.

1984 Los Angeles 29th July to 12th August The clash of sport and politics continued. Fourteen eastern bloc countries, led by the USSR, boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics. Their official reason for the boycott was concern for competitors' safety. Surely it couldn't be anything to do with the American boycott of the Moscow Games four years earlier? Could it?

Brian Aspen Bolton's Brian Aspen returned for his second Olympic tournament, to compete in the freestyle bantamweight competition in 1984. His credentials now included the British bantamweight championship of 1981, 1982 and 1983 and featherweight honours in 1979, 1980 and1984. He got off to a promising start, beating Iraq's Marwan Suhail Aboud. Defeat against Japan's gold medal winner, Hideaki Tomiyama, followed. Brian then faced İbrahim Akgül of Turkey in a classification match to determine his final position. Akgul beat Brian, positioning the Turk in eighth position and Brian in ninth. Brian went on to win more British championships; featherweight again in 1986 and 1989, lightweight in 1994.

Steven Bayliss Londonder Steve Bayliss was an amateur at the Redbridge Club and competed in the freestyle lightweight competition in 1984. He got off to a good start, pinning Spaniard Francisco Iglesias. Two points defeats were to follow, against Egyptian Hussain El-Din Hamed and bronze medal winner Jukka Rauhala of Finland. Steve Bayliss was British featherweight champion in 1981 and lightweight champion for four years from 1983 until 1986.

Mark Dunbar Following on from British championship success at flyweight from 1978 until 1980 Mark went on to win the British featherweight title in 1982 and again in 1985. Between those two featherweight successes he represented Britain for a second time in the Olympic Games, in 1984 competing in the featherweight freestyle competition. History repeated itself for Mark with a very tough first round draw, decisively outpointed by gold medal winner Randy Lewis of the USA. Mark's second match could not have been closer, losing a narrow points decision to India's Gian Singh.

Stefan Kurpas Mancunian Stefan Kurpas was a trainee at the Manchester YMCA and competed in the middleweight freestyle competition of the 1984 Olympic Games. He was a four times British middleweight champion, in 1981, 1982, 1984 and 1985. Stefan lost a points decision in his opening match against Canadian Chris Rinke. His second round match went better, a win over Nigeria's Kally Agogo. The end of the road came in the third round, losing to Luciano Ortelli of Italy.

Noel Loban (Bronze medal winner) British light heavyweight champion in 1984 and Britain's last medal winner, for the time being, is Noel Loban, bronze medal winner in the light heavyweight division of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. Previous medal winner Keith Haward had entered the professional ranks, but by 1984 a professional career was no longer an attractive proposition. Following further Olympic representation in Seoul, Noel settled in the United States and was appointed assistant coach of the North Carolina State wrestling team. Noel won four (and lost one) of his group matches; victories over Bodo Lukowski (West Germany), Mamadou Diallo (Mauritania), Michele Azzola (Italy), and Macauley Appah (Nigeria) and a sole defeat by silver medal winner Akira Ota (Japan). This placed him runner up in Group B before winning a points decision (5-1) against the Group A runner up, Canadian Clark Davis to win the bronze medal.

Gary Moores Mancunian Gary Moores, a trainee at the Barton AWC, competed in the freestyle flyweight competition of the 1984 Olympics shortly after winning the British flyweight championship. He got off to promising start, pinning the Egyptian, Farag Ali. Gary was beaten, and eliminated in his following two matches, pinned by American Joe Gonzales and eventual gold medal winner Šaban Trstena of Yugoslavia. The following year Gary won the British bantamweight championship.

Fitz Walker Fitz Walker returned for a second crack at Olympic success in the 1984 Olympic Games, a former world champion and Olympic gold medallist having put paid to his hopes four years earlier. Again Fitz competed in the welterweight freestyle event and was eliminated in the second round, having lost to Canada's Marc Mongeon and Naomi Higuchi of Japan. 1988 Seoul, South Korea 17th Sept – 2nd October Following the large scale boycotts of the previous two Olympics trouble seemed to be on the horizon again when the Games were awarded to South Korea, a country with which many other countries did not have diplomatic relations. Eventually all the problems were sorted and the Seoul Olympics were the most successful for years.

Martin Doyle Martin Doyle competed in the freestyle middleweight competition of the 1988 Olympic Games, eliminated from the competition following points defeats by Victor Kodei of Nigeria and Mohamed Zayar of Syria. Martin was British middleweight champion in 1988 and 1991. Martin Doyle moved to Australia where he opened a physiotherapist practice.

Graeme English Born in Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, Graeme English had a creditable performance in the 1988 Olympics, competing in the freestyle light heavyweight competition. Two decisive and quick pinfall wins over Tapha Guèye of Senegal and Samba Adama of Mauritania were followed by defeats by Hungarian Gábor Tóth and American Jim Scherr. Graeme was British light heavyweight champion in 1986, 1987, 1988 1990, 1992 and 1994, heavyweight champion in 1989 and 1993 and Super heavyweight champion in 2000.

Noel Loban Britain's 1984 bronze medal winner returned to Olympic competition in 1988, this time competing in the heavyweight freestyle competition. Noel wom two and lost two of his group matches, with victories over István Robotka (Hungary) and Wojciech Wala (Poland) and losses against bronze medal winner Bill Scherr (USA) and Georgi Karadushev (Bulgaria). A final match against Jo Byeong-On (South Korea) left Noel in seventh place and the Korean eighth. Noel was British heavyweight champion in 1983, 1986 and 1987.

David Ogden British champion at light flyweight in 1984 and bantamweight in 1986 competed in the freestyle bantamweight competition of the 1988 Olympic Games. He didn't concede a fall, but lost both his matches on points, against Japan's Ryo Kanehama and West Germany's Jürgen Scheibe.

Ravinder Singh Tut Ravinder Singh Tut, of Wolverhampton, competed in the freestyle featherweight competition of the 1988 Olympic Games. He lost to Stephan Sargsyan of the Soviet Union and Karsten Polkym of East Germany. Ravinder was British champion at featherweight in 1987 and 1988, and lightweight in 1989.

Fitz Walker By 1988 Fitz Walker was an Olympic veteran, having competed in 1980 and 1984. He also came to Seoul as a married man, having married two years earlier. Fitz returned home from the welterweight freestyle competition with his pride intact and without conceding a fall; losing both his matches on points; opponents being the eventual gold medal winner Kenny Mondayof the USA and Šaban Sejdi of Yugoslavia.

1992 Barcelona 24th July - 9th August After four Olympic Games with some form of protest or boycott Barcelona hosted games of relative harmony, with a record number of competing countries and athletes.

Calum McNeil British lightweight champion in 1991 and 1992 Glaswegian Calum McNeil competed in the lightweight freestyle competition of the 1992 Olympic Games. He lost both his matches, losing to American Townsend Saunders and Nigerian Ibo Oziti. Following the Barcelona Games Calum won the British welterweight championship in 1994. 1996 Atlanta 20th July - 4th August The Olympic Games returned to the United States, a disappointment for Athens who had hoped to be awarded the Centennial Games of the modern era. Yes, the modern Olympic movement was 100 years old, a century of triumph, joy, celebration, and political intrigue. The world had certainly changed during that time, and with the break up of the Soviet bloc there were now many more nations to take part.

Amarjit Singh Britain's only wrestling competitor in the 1996 Olympic Games was Wolverhampton's Amarjit Singh. He competed in the super-heavyweight freestyle competition. Amarjit won one of his three matches. In his opening contest he lost to Iran's Ibrahim Mehraban. The Second round was better with Amarjit beating Neal Kranz of Ghana. Amarjit's Olympic dream ended in his third match when he wrestled Merab Valiyev of Ukraine. 2000 Sydney, Australia 13th September – 1st October The Games went down under, and what a Games they turned out to be. At the closing ceremony there wasn't even a murmur of disagreement when the International Olympic Committee President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, declared them the best Games ever.

Sadly there was no British wrestling competitor to enjoy the fun.

2004 Athens, Greece 11th - 29th August After more than a hundred years the Olympic Games returned home to Athens. Stories of doom and gloom were forgotten as the events began and Greece went on to stage an enjoyable and successful Games.

Nate Ackerman British-American Nate Ackerman represented Great Britain in the 2004 Olympic Games, wrestling in the freestyle middleweight competition. He lost both his matches, against the Armenian Arayik Gevorgyan and Gennady Laliyev of Georgia. 2008 Beijing, China 6th - 24th August Smog, political protests, human right concerns and media restrictions; and that was all before the Games began. Once they did begin, with a magical Opening Ceremony, such thoughts were placed well behind, and the world enjoyed a superbly organised Olympic Games.

Superb organisation, but again without a Great Britain representatives in the wrestling competition. 2012 London, UK 25th July - 12th August London 2012. This was the third time London had hosted the Olympic Games but the first time under normal circumstances. The 1908 and 1948 Games had been arranged at short notice and under difficult circumstances. Mind you, the global economic crash that preceded the Games meant that things weren't exactly easy this time around either. Mind you, there's nothing Brits enjoy more than a bit of adversity. Enjoy themselves they did; even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II getting in on the fun by appearing in a sketch and appearing to leap from a helicopter. Mr Bean and a cavalcade of stars, including staff of the NHS and hundreds of London citizens created a memorable opening ceremony. Britain watched on with pride; the rest of the world watched on with bewilderment. Oh, and the Games weren't bad.

Olga Butkevych Controversy surrounding overseas training partners, missed targets, and the misuse of drugs left Olga Butkevych single-handedly carrying the hopes of Great Britain as the sole representative in the 2012 Olympics. Even though she held a British passport and wrestled competitively for Britain the selection of twenty-six Ukrainian born Olga as Britain's only wrestling competitor in the 2012 Olympics raised a few eyebrows. Olga competed in the women's lightweight freestyle competition. A bye took her through to the second round where she lost to Lissette Antes of Ecuador. 2016 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 5th – 21st August The Gloom merchants worked overtime before the Rio 2016 Games. Venues would remain unbuilt, infrastructure was not ready, terrorists were ready to attack and the health hazards were greater than ever before. Well, that's what they said, and yet once again it all worked out well and the world enjoyed a superb Olympic Games.

Sadly without any British wrestling representative. 2020 Tokyo, Japan 23rd July - 8th August, 2021 In 2020 The Olympic Games were set to return to Tokyo for the first time since 1964. British representation in the wrestling competition has been sparse since 1988. We hoped things could get better. We never imagined what was about to happen.

2024 Paris, France 26th July - 11th August, 2024 Can things get better? They can hardly get worse.