Kristjan Palusalu (until 1935 Kristjan Trossmann, – 17 July 1987) 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, an ...

n heavyweight

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

and Olympic winner. Palusalu became the first and only wrestler in Olympic history ever to win both the Greco-Roman and freestyle heavy weight events. Palusalu was born in Varemurru village, Saulepi Parish,

Lääne County Lääne County ( et, Lääne maakond or ''Läänemaa'', literally "Western land"; german: Wiek; la, Rotalia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the north-ea ...

(now Matsi village,

Lääneranna Parish Lääneranna Parish ( et, Lääneranna vald) is a rural municipality in Pärnu County. It includes the town of Lihula.https://www.laanerannavald.ee/ (accessed 7 March 2020) Settlements ;Town Lihula ;Boroughs Virtsu ;Villages There are 150 vil ...

Pärnu County Pärnu County ( et, Pärnu maakond or ''Pärnumaa''; german: Kreis Pernau) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the nor ...

) as one of eight children to Jüri and Liisu Trossmann. He is best remembered for winning two gold medals at the 1936

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. He was given the honor of carrying the

Estonian flag The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the (). The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol o ...

to Olympiastadion. The triumph was celebrated across Estonia with Palusalu and other Estonian athletes touring the country by rail giving speeches. A third of the inhabitants of

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

turned out to greet him and the Estonian government granted him a farm. After the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940, Palusalu was sent to hard labour in Kotlas,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

in 1941. He tried to escape with other prisoners but was captured after a few days. He was then sentenced to death together with his fellow fugitives but was given the chance to go to the front line to fight against Finland in the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

. He deserted to the Finnish side in Northern

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance fo ...

, northwest of

Lake Onega Lake Onega (; also known as Onego, rus, Оне́жское о́зеро, r=Onezhskoe ozero, p=ɐˈnʲɛʂskəɪ ˈozʲɪrə; fi, Ääninen, Äänisjärvi; vep, Änine, Änižjärv) is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Repu ...

. According to one Finnish soldier, Mr. Suuperko, Palusalu and his friends shouted "Finnish boys do not shoot Estonians", when they crossed the lines. Palusalu was soon recognized by a person in the Finnish army, who had sports background ( Heikki Savolainen). He was imprisoned but then was allowed to return to his homeland, which was then under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

. After the return of the Soviet army in 1945 he was arrested again, but was later allowed to work as trainer and referee, he also participated in some competition in Estonia. He was not forgotten by the Estonian people. As one of the most popular sportsmen in Estonia throughout history, Kristjan Palusalu is one of the few who have become synonymous with the Estonian nation itself. Palusalu was married to Ellen Saidla. The couple had a son, Jüri Palusalu.

Legacy

Kristjan Palusalu haud 20110906 by Ahsoous

. The international Kristjan Palusalu Memorial in Greco-Roman wrestling is held in Estonia from 1988.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palusalu, Kristjan 1908 births 1987 deaths People from Lääneranna Parish People from the Governorate of Estonia Estonian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Estonia Wrestlers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Burials at Metsakalmistu European Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century Estonian people