Wilfried Dietrich

Wilfried Dietrich
Personal information
Born 14 October 1933
Schifferstadt, Germany
Died 3 June 1992 (aged 58)
Durbanville, South Africa
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 118 kg (260 lb)
Sport
Sport Greco-Roman wrestling
Freestyle wrestling
Club VfK Schifferstadt
ASV Mainz 1888

Wilfried Dietrich (14 October 1933 – 3 June 1992) was a German heavyweight wrestler. Between 1956 and 1972 he took part in five Olympics and six world championships,[1] often entering both the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling contests – a feat unmatched by any other wrestler. He won five Olympic and five world championship medals, becoming Olympic (1960), world (1961) and European champion (1967). Between 1955 and 1962 he won all his freestyle bouts.[2][3]

In 1968 Dietrich was selected as the Olympic flag bearer for West Germany at its first appearance at summer Olympics;[4] he won a bronze medal at those games. He failed to score at his last Olympics in 1972, yet he produced the most spectacular victory of his career by throwing over his back the 198 kg American Chris Taylor in the Greco-Roman contest. Dietrich lost to Taylor in their freestyle bout.[2][5] In 2008 he was inducted into the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame.

References

  1. Wilfried Dietrich. iat.uni-leipzig.de
  2. 1 2 "Profile: Wilfried Dietrich". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  3. "Stats: Wilfried Dietrich". abc.net. 2008.
  4. West Germany. sports-reference.com
  5. Chris Taylor: The giant Olympian. slam.canoe.com
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