Voldemar Väli (10 January 1903 – 13 April 1997) 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, and ...

n two-time Olympic medalist in

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...

wrestling.

Career

Voldemar Väli was born in

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. ...

, 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 The 1936 Summer Olympics (German language, German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German language, German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympi ...

in Berlin.Vaeli, Voldemar (EST)
iat.uni-leipzig.de 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.Väli, Voldemar
Eesti spordi biograafiline leksikon He ended his sporting career in 1945 after a match between the local

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...

and the team from Stockholm. He beat the Swedish champion Einar Karlsson. Väli worked a crane operator at the

Port of Tallinn Port of Tallinn ( et, Tallinna Sadam) is the biggest port authority in Estonia. Taking into account both cargo and passenger traffic, it is one of the largest port enterprises of the Baltic Sea. Port of Tallinn is a publicly listed company manag ...

. In Sweden, he was a metal worker and later established a doll factory with his wife.

References

External links

GBR AthleticsEurolympic.org: The European Olympic CommitteeOlympics History: CBS SportsLine.com
1903 births 1997 deaths Sportspeople from Kuressaare People from the Governorate of Livonia Wrestlers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Estonian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Estonia Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Olympic bronze medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Sweden European Wrestling Championships medalists {{Estonia-wrestling-bio-stub