Abraham Courland

Abraham Kurland (born June 10, 1912 in Odense , † March 14, 1999 ) was a Danish wrestler and silver medalist at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles in the Greco-Roman style , lightweight.

Career

Abraham Kurland grew up in Copenhagen . He was of Jewish faith and started wrestling with two brothers as a teenager at the Jewish sports club "Hakoah" in Copenhagen. He quickly developed into an excellent wrestler in Greco-Roman. Style and represented Denmark in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles in the lightweight. This was his first start in an international championship. Abraham won the silver medal there, albeit with a lot of luck. At this tournament he managed only one win in the first round against the Japanese Miyazaki. In the second round he was defeated by the German champion Eduard Sperling and in the third round he had bye. Sperling won his first two fights on points and was defeated in the third round against Erik Malmberg from Sweden . He was eliminated, while Kurland was able to fight for the Olympic victory because of his bye in the 4th round against Malmberg and lost. Malmberg became Olympic champion, Kurland silver medalist and Sperling had to be satisfied with the bronze medal, although he had beaten Kurland on points.

At the European Championships in Helsinki in 1933 Abraham Kurland retired after two defeats after the second round. The next year, however, he triumphed at the European Championships in Rome . He won u. a. against the Olympic champion from 1928 Voldemar Väli from Estonia and against Eduard Sperling, three times European champion and only lost to the Finn Aarne Reini .

Abraham Kurland ranked even better at the European Championship in Greco-Roman. Style in Copenhagen in 1935. He won six fights and also defeated Lauri Koskela from Finland on points. After six rounds he had three missing points, which resulted from three point wins. Koskela won in addition to his defeat against Kurland four times on the shoulder, for which he was burdened with no missing points and had bye in one round. For the defeat against Kurland he received 2 missing points and suddenly was European champion with 2 missing points, ahead of Kurland, who had three missing points from his three point wins. So Kurland failed because of the inadequacy of the rating system at the time. He was without a doubt the best wrestler at this European lightweight championship.

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin , Abraham Kurland refused to participate. His foregoing the chance to become Olympic champion was a relief for the Danish Olympic Committee, as it feared "being embarrassed" in the event of a possible gold medal for Kurland. The gold medal in the lightweight in Greco-Roman. Style won in Berlin Lauri Koskela, whom Abraham Kurland had defeated a year earlier. At the European Championships in 1937 and 1938 in Paris and Tallinn , he could not win any medals.

In 1943, during the rescue of the Danish Jews , Abraham Kurland was able to flee to Sweden . After 1945 he returned to Denmark and, as "Hakoah" Copenhagen no longer existed, he started wrestling again at "Idræts Klub" Copenhagen. In 1948, at the age of 36, he qualified for the Olympic Games in London . In London he only won one fight and came in 7th place.

After 1948 Abraham Kurland coached the Danish national wrestling team until 1962.

Abraham Kurland died at the age of 86 and was buried on the Jewish mosaisk Vestre Greavelsesplads ( German  western burial place ).

successes

International

(OS = Olympic Games, EM = European Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, F = freestyle, Le = lightweight, then up to 66 kg body weight)

• 1930, 2nd place , intern. Tournament in Berlin , GR, Fe, behind Eugen Fleischmann , Czechoslovakia a . in front of Birot, Germany ;
• 1932, 1st place , Maccabi World Games in Tel Aviv , GR, Le, in front of Ernst Gottlieb, Austria
• 1932, silver medal , OS in Los Angeles , GR, Le, with a victory over Yoneichi Miyazaki, Japan a . Defeats against Eduard Sperling , Germany a . Erik Malmberg , Sweden ;
• 1933, 7th place , EM in Helsinki , GR, Le, after defeats against Eduard Sperling a. Arild Dahl, Norway ;
• 1934, 2nd place , EM in Rome , GR, Le, with victories over Piotr Neuff, Poland , Dieleman, Belgium , Einar Karlsson , Sweden, Voldemar Väli , Estonia a . Eduard Sperling a. a loss to Aarne Reini , Finland;
• 1934, 3rd place , EM in Stockholm , F, Le, with a victory over Paavo Pihlajamäki, Finland a. Losses against Anders Swansson, Sweden a. Wolfgang Ehrl , Germany;
• 1935, 2nd place , EM in Copenhagen , GR, Le, with victories over Herbert Olofsson, Sweden, Jozsef Kalman, Hungary , Pavilo Atars, Latvia , Henry Raab, Norway, Wolfgang Ehrl u. Lauri Koskela , Finland;
• 1937, 4th place , EM in Paris , GR, Le, with victories over Luigi De Filippo, Italy a . Hermann Höllermann, Austria a . Defeats against Fritz Weikart , Germany a. Herbert Olofsson ;
• 1938, 6th place , EM in Tallinn , GR, Le, after defeats against Voldemar Väli u. Gösta Andersson , Sweden;
• 1948, 7th place , OS in London , GR, Le, with a victory over Ambrosios Rauch, Switzerland a . Losses against Charif Damage, Lebanon a . Gustav Freij , Sweden

National

Abraham Kurland won the Danish lightweight championship in Greco-Roman twelve times between 1932 and 1949. Style.

literature

• Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships , 1976,

Web links

• Portrait of Abraham Kurland in English
• Abraham Kurland in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Norman Berdichevsky: The Golden Calf Idols of the World Cup, The Olympics, and What Happened in Berlin, 1936 New English Review, August 2010
2. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Abraham Kurland