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.