Voldemar Väli
Voldemar Väli at the 1928 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | (1903-01-10)10 January 1903 Kuressaare, Estonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 13 April 1997(1997-04-13) (aged 94) Stockholm, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Greco-Roman wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Voldemar Väli (10 January 1903 – 13 April 1997) was an Estonian two-time Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling.[1][2]
Career
Voldemar Väli was born in Kuressaare, on the island of Saaremaa. He began training in wrestling at age 17, and four years later competed at the 1924 Olympics, but was eliminated in a preliminary bout. In 1926 he won his first European title and established himself as a world top featherweight and later lightweight wrestler. He missed the 1932 Olympics because Estonia did not send a team due to the Great Depression, and finished out of the podium at the 1933, 1934, 1937 and 1938 European Championships; however, he earned a bronze at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.[3] Domestically he won 19 titles between 1922 and 1942 in Greco-Roman and freestyle events. During World War II in 1944 he emigrated with family to Sweden.[1][4] He ended his sporting career in 1945 after a match between the local Estonians and the team from Stockholm. He beat the Swedish champion Einar Karlsson.
Väli worked a crane operator at the Port of Tallinn.[1] In Sweden, he was a metal worker and later established a doll factory with his wife.[1]
References
External links
- GBR Athletics
- Eurolympic.org: The European Olympic Committee
- Olympics History: CBS SportsLine.com
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- 1912 Kaarlo Koskelo (FIN)
- 1920 Oskari Friman (FIN)
- 1924 Kalle Anttila (FIN)
- 1928 Voldemar Väli (EST)
- 1932 Giovanni Gozzi (ITA)
- 1936 Yaşar Erkan (TUR)
- 1948 Mehmet Oktav (TUR)
- 1952 Yakiv Punkin (URS)
- 1956 Rauno Mäkinen (FIN)
- 1960 Müzahir Sille (TUR)
- 1964 Imre Polyák (HUN)
- 1968 Roman Rurua (URS)
- 1972 Georgi Markov (BUL)
- 1976 Kazimierz Lipień (POL)
- 1980 Stelios Mygiakis (GRE)
- 1984 Kim Weon-kee (KOR)
- 1988 Kamandar Madzhidov (URS)
- 1992 Mehmet Akif Pirim (TUR)
- 1996 Włodzimierz Zawadzki (POL)
- 2000 Varteres Samurgashev (RUS)
- 2004 Jung Ji-hyun (KOR)
- 2008 Islambek Albiev (RUS)
- 2012 Omid Norouzi (IRI)
- 1912–1920: 60 kg
- 1924–1928: 62 kg
- 1932–1936: 61 kg
- 1948–1960: 62 kg
- 1964–1968: 63 kg
- 1972–1996: 62 kg
- 2000: 63 kg
- 2004–2012: 60 kg
This article about an Estonian Olympic medalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
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This biographical article relating to an Estonian sport wrestler or wrestling coach is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
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