Osvald Käpp (17 February 1905 – 22 December 1995) 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 who competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman lightweight events at the 1924, 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. He won the freestyle contest in 1928 and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Estonia in 1932. He also won two medals in Greco-Roman wrestling at the European championships in 1926–27. Käpp trained as a gymnast and basketball player before changing to wrestling in 1923. In 1929, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, he immigrated to

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, and won the AAU Greco-Roman (1929) and freestyle titles (1930–31). He retired in 1931, but was convinced to compete in the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

, as Estonia could not afford sending an Olympic team to

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and was recruiting Estonians living in the United States (only Käpp and Alfred Maasik agreed). Lack of preparation took its toll, and Käpp was eliminated after three rounds in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Käpp was a pastry-chef. While living in Tallinn he worked at a candy factory and later opened a bakery in New York.

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* 1905 births 1995 deaths Sportspeople from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Estonian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Estonia Wrestlers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Championships medalists Estonian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Estonian people {{Estonia-Olympic-medalist-stub