Wilfried Dietrich

Vocation

Notable

German wrestler, Olympic Champion in freestyle wrestling, Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, winner of a total of five Olympic medals, World Champion in freestyle Dietrich competed at the 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics, and won a total of five medals (one gold medal, two silver medals and two bronze medals. This is more than any other Olympic wrestler in modern times. At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne Dietrich won a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, behind Anatoly Parfyonov in the heavyweight class. He won a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1957 FILA Wrestling World Championships in Istanbul. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling, as well as a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, again in the heavyweight class. In Yokohama in 1961he became World Champion in freestyle wrestling. At the World Championships in Toledo in 1962 he won bronze medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo he won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, in 1967 he won the European Championship (freestyle), and at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City he won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling. At the 1969 FILA Wrestling World Championships in Mar del Plata he won a silver medal in Greco-Roman style. He also competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where he placed fourth in Greco-Roman and fifth in freestyle wrestling. It was also at the 1972 Olympics that Dietrich suplexed the 198 kg heavy American Chris Taylor, it is one of the most memorable suplexes of all times. He died 3 June 1992. Link to Wikipedia biography