Eduard Pütsep (21 October 1898 – 22 August 1960) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n wrestler. He competed in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics and won a gold medal in the bantamweight division in 1924, becoming the first Olympic champion in wrestling from Estonia. In 1928 he placed sixth in Greco-Roman and ninth in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

Career

Eduard Pütsep was born in

Vastseliina Parish Vastseliina Parish ( et, Vastseliina vald; vro, Vahtsõliina vald) was a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. It had a population of 2,165 (2008) and an area of 222.8 km². Settlements ;Small borough Vastseliina ;Villages Haav ...

(present-day

Võru Parish Võru Parish ( et, Võru vald; vro, Võro vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County Võru County ( et, Võru maakond or ''Võrumaa''; vro, Võro maakund) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga County and P� ...

). He took up wrestling during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and in 1917 placed third at the Russian championships. At his first international competition, the 1920 Olympics, he lost in a semifinal to the eventual silver medalist

Heikki Kähkönen Heikki Kähkönen (26 December 1891 – 30 June 1962) was a Finnish wrestler and Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling. Kähkönen competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp where he received a silver medal in Greco-Roman wre ...

. Next year he finished fourth at the world championships, and in 1922 won a silver medal. He retired from competitions in 1933 and attended the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

as the head coach of the Latvian wrestling team. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he moved to Finland and continued to coach wrestlers there. Since 1977 an annual international wrestling tournament in his honor has been held in

Võru Võru (; vro, Võro; german: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Cather ...

, Estonia. Pütsep could communicate in eight languages. Yet during his wrestling years he acted in silent films, and was nicknamed "Estonian

Chaplin Chaplin may refer to: People * Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director * Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin Films * '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983) * ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992) * ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...

". In 1924, he starred in ''Õnnelik korterikriisi lahendus'', directed by

Konstantin Märska Konstantin Märska ( in Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire – 30 August 1951 in Tallinn) was an Estonian cinematographer and film director. Märska is buried at the Rahumäe cemetery in Tallinn Tallinn () is the ...

, and in 1925 played in ''Tšeka komissar Miroštšenko''.

References

External links

* * * * * 1898 births 1960 deaths People from Võru Parish People from Kreis Werro Wrestlers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Estonian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Estonia Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Estonian male film actors Estonian male silent film actors 20th-century Estonian male actors World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Championships medalists Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Finland {{Estonia-wrestling-bio-stub