Gottfrid Svensson

Gottfrid Cervantius Svensson (born May 13, 1889 in Uppsala , † August 19, 1956 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish wrestler . He won a silver free style lightweight medal at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp

Career

Gottfrid Svensson began wrestling at the Ästermalms AK wrestling club in 1907 . In 1911 he moved to Djurgaardens IF Stockholm because he had better training opportunities at this large club. With a few exceptions, he wrestled in the Greco-Roman style and won his first Swedish championship title in lightweight in 1911. This title win was followed by another six: 1912, 1913 and 1919 in the lightweight and 1917, 1918 and 1922 in the featherweight.

In 1911 he started in Helsinki for the first time at a world championship in the Greco-Roman style in lightweight. In this championship everyone had to compete against everyone else. Gottfried Svensson won over Taavi Kohlemainen and Kalle Leivonen, both from Finland and Herbrand Lofthus from Norway, wrestled against Paul Tirkkonen and Nestori Tuominen, both from Finland, and lost to Jean Bruce, Finland and Gustaf Malmström from Sweden. In the final accounts he came in 5th place.

At the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 192, when Gottfrid Svensson competed in the Greco-Roman style in a lightweight, a different set of rules already applied. He was shouldered there in his first fight by the Finn Armas Laitinen after a fight time of 35 minutes. Then he came to a fightless victory over Thorbjörn Frydenlund from Norway, defeated the Hungarian Ödön Radvány and lost to Jan Balej from Bohemia after a fighting time of 16 minutes. He then retired and finished in 15th place together with all the losers in the 4th round.

1913 got Gottfrid Svensson at the inoffiz. European championship in Budapest in lightweight after victories over Böhmann and Dvornik, bde. Germany, Ernö Markus , Hungary and Viktor Fischer , Austria the final, in which he lost to Ödön Radvany.

In 1920 Gottfrid Svensson was part of the Swedish contingent at the Olympic Games in Antwerp . He started there in both styles. The Greco-Roman style competitions took place from August 16-21, 1920. Gottfrid Svensson started in this style in featherweight and lost his first fight against Enrico Porro from Italy . He was eliminated and only came in 17th place. In the free style competitions from August 25 to 27, he started in the lightweight. He came to victories over George Metropoulos from the United States, George MacKenzie from Great Britain and Peter Wright from Great Britain. He lost against Kalle Anttila from Finland, but with these results won the silver medal .

After these competitions, Gottfrid Svensson ended his career as an active wrestler. But after that he worked for many years as a coach and supervisor for the Swedish national wrestling team.

International success

year	space	competition	style	Weight class	Results
1911	5.	World Cup in Helsinki	GR	Light	after victories over Taavi Kohlemainen and Kalle Leivonen, both Finland and Herbrand Lofthus, Norway, draw against Paul Tirkkonen and Nestori Tuominen, both Finland and defeats against Jean Bruce, Finland and Gustaf Malmström , Sweden
1912	15th	OS in Stockholm	GR	Light	after a defeat against Armas Laitinen, Finland, a without a fight victory over Thorbjörn Frydenlund, Norway, a victory over Ödön Radvany, Hungary and a defeat against Jan Balej, Bohemia
1913	2.	Unofficial. EM in Budapest	GR	Light	after victories over Böhmann and Dvornik, both Germany, Ernö Markus, Hungary and Viktor Fischer , Austria and a defeat against Ödön Radvany
1918	1.	Nordic Championship in Kristiania (Norway)	GR	feather
1920	17th	OS in Antwerp	GR	feather	after losing to Enrico Porro , Italy
1920	silver	OS in Antwerp	F.	Light	after victories over George Metropoulos, USA, George MacKenzie and Peter Wright, both Great Britain and a defeat against Kalle Anttila , Finland

Swedish championships

Gottfrid Svensson was Swedish champion in the Greco-Roman style in 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1919 in the lightweight and in 1917, 1918 and 1922 in the featherweight

Explanations

• GR = Greco-Roman style, F = free style
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
• Feather weight, back then up to 60 kg or up to 62 kg, lightweight up to 67 kg or 67.5 kg body weight

literature

• Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships 1896 to 1976, 1976
• Anniversary volume "Svensk Brottning 100 år", editor Thure Petersson, 2009

Web links

• Gottfrid Svensson in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Profile of Gottfrid Svensson at the Institute for Applied Training Science