Wittenberg wins battle of styles

WRESTLING - With four gold and two silver medals in the Free Style events Turkey has strengthened its reputation as wrestling nation, leaving Sweden and Finland in a secondary role. With wins by Brand and Wittenberg, the USA was successful in the middleweight and light-heavyweight competition.

The Turkish wrestlers proved themselves worthy of the saying “strong as a Turk”. World champions Gazamfer Bilge (featherweight), Celal Atik (lightweight) and Yasar Dogu (welterweight) lived up to the expectations. All three of them took the gold.

But when there are winners, there are losers as well. Where they proved so formidable in previous Olympiads, the Swedish wrestlers only gained three second places. Finland, historical wrestling rival of the Swedes, disappointed as well. Only Vilho Lennart Viitala succeeded in winning a gold medal, in the first Olympic freestyle flyweight contest since 1904.

In the heavier weight classes Turkish dominance was less marked. Middleweight wrestler Adil Candemir had to settle for silver, in favour of the American Glen Brand. In the heavyweight competition Gyula Bóbis from Hungary beat the Swedish world champion Hans Bertil Antonsson on points.

But the contest that will live longest in the memory of the spectators is the one between Henry Wittenburg, a police sergeant from New York, and Fritz Stöckli from Switzerland. Their battle was truly one between styles, with Stöckli preferring to do his wrestling standing up, and Wittenburg showing greater advantage in the ground work. The bout ended with the American in the uppermost position. But if ever a wrestler deserved to win, it was Stöckli.

All athletes who competed in wrestling events