Voldemar Väli
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Voldemar Väli (10 January 1903 – 13 April 1997) was an Estonian two-time Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling.[1][2]
Career
Voldemar Väli was born in Kuressaare, 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 in Berlin.[3] 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.[1][4] He ended his sporting career in 1945 after a match between the local Estonians and the team from Stockholm. He beat the Swedish champion Einar Karlsson.
Väli worked a crane operator at the Port of Tallinn.[1] In Sweden, he was a metal worker and later established a doll factory with his wife.[1]
Legacy
A bronze sculpture of Väli was installed at the sports centre in his hometown of Kuressaare in October 2024.[5]
References
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- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Vaeli, Voldemar (EST). iat.uni-leipzig.de
- ↑ Väli, Voldemar. Eesti spordi biograafiline leksikon
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External links
Template:Footer Olympic Champions Greco-Roman wrestling featherweight Template:Authority control
- Pages with script errors
- 1903 births
- 1997 deaths
- Sportspeople from Kuressaare
- People from Kreis Ösel
- Wrestlers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
- Wrestlers at the 1928 Summer Olympics
- Wrestlers at the 1936 Summer Olympics
- Estonian male sport wrestlers
- Olympic wrestlers for 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
- European Wrestling Championships medalists
- Estonian World War II refugees
- Estonian emigrants to Sweden