George Mehnert

George Mehnert (born November 3, 1881 in Newark , New Jersey , † July 8, 1948 ) was an American wrestler and Olympic champion of German descent.

Career

George Mehnert was a member of the Newark National Gymnastics Club, where he played basketball and began wrestling . In 1902 he won the first championship of the AAU (American Athletic Union), which was to be followed by several more. He remained an amateur wrestler until 1908. In 1909 and 1910 he worked as a professional wrestler. He then became president of the Newark National Gymnastics Club and served on the American Olympic Wrestling Committee until the late 1930s. Georg Mehnert was the only wrestler in the world who managed to win a gold medal at two consecutive Olympic Games in the early days of international amateur wrestling.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, Fl = flyweight, Ba = bantamweight, F = freestyle)

• 1904 , gold medal, OS in St. Louis , F, Fl (up to 52.16 kg), before Gustave Bauers, USA and William Nelson , USA;
• 1908 , gold medal, OS in London , F, Ba (- 54 kg), with victories over William Press, USA, Aubert Cote, USA and H. Sprenger, Great Britain.

National successes

George Mehnert became American flyweight champion (AAU champion) in 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1908, in bantamweight in 1905 and 1906. In 1907 he was runner-up in bantamweight, beaten by George Dole, who was 1908 Olympic champion in featherweight.

Web links

• George Mehnert in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )