Osvald Käpp (17 February 1905 – 22 December 1995) was an Estonian wrestler who competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman lightweight events at the 1924, 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics.[1] He won the freestyle contest in 1928[2][3] and served as the Olympic flag bearer for Estonia in 1932.[4] He also won two medals in Greco-Roman wrestling at the European championships in 1926–27.[5]
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 17 February 1905 Tallinn, Estonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 22 December 1995 (aged 90) New York, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Kalev Tallinn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Käpp trained as a gymnast and basketball player before changing to wrestling in 1923. In 1929, during the Great Depression, he immigrated to New York City, 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, as Estonia could not afford sending an Olympic team to Los Angeles 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.[6][7]
Käpp was a pastry-chef. While living in Tallinn he worked at a candy factory and later opened a bakery in New York.[6][8]
References
edit
- ^ "Osvald Käpp". Olympedia. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "5 Nations Leading in Wrestling". Monrovia News-Post. Monrovia, CA. 2 August 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Olympic Games, 1984". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, PA. 26 July 1984. p. 99. Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Estonia. sports-reference.com
- ^ Kaepp, Oswald (EST). iat.uni-leipzig.de
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Osvald Käpp". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
- ^ "5 Teams Lead in Wrestling". The Huntsville Times. Huntsville, AL. 2 August 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 22 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Käpp, Osvald. Eesti spordi biograafiline leksikon
External links
edit- Osvald Käpp at the International Wrestling Database
- Osvald Käpp at Olympedia
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