Ivan Maximovich Poddubny

Ukrainian commemorative stamp 1996

Ivan Poddubny ( Russian Иван Максимович Поддубный ; and Ivan Maxymowytsch Piddubnyj , Ukrainian Іван Максимович Піддубний * 26 September 1871 in Bogoduchowka in Zolotonosha , Poltava Governorate , Russian Empire , † 8. August 1949 in Yeisk , Krasnodar region , Russian SSR , USSR ) was a Russian and Soviet wrestler , six-time world championthe professional wrestler between 1905 and 1910 in the Greco-Roman style. He was descended from the Zaporozhian Cossacks .

Career

Ivan Poddubny grew up in his birthplace, today's Krasseniwka in the center of Ukraine . As a young man he went to Sevastopol and Feodosiya and worked there as a dock worker. Over the years he grew up to a size of 1.83 m to a sturdy boy of approx. 118 kg body weight. In 1896 he started his career as a professional wrestler in a circus. He kicked u. a. in Odessa , Tbilisi , Kiev and Kazan and met the then famous Russian professional wrestlers Iwan Saikin , Iwan Schemjakin and Nikolai Wachturow . He was discovered by Count Georgi Ivanovich Ribow and decisively promoted.

At that time, Ivan Poddubny wrestled in the Greco-Roman style , as is usual in Europe with professional wrestlers. In 1903 he started in Paris for the first time at a world championship for professional wrestlers. Such world championships were held in tournament form and usually lasted a whole month. Iwan did not win the World Cup tournament in Paris in 1903, but between 1905 and 1910 he won a total of six world heavyweight championships.

Between 1910 and 1920 he wrestled mainly in the United States and Russia . In 1920 he was imprisoned in Odessa as part of the Russian October Revolution, but was soon released. In 1925 he went back to the United States. There he had to switch to freestyle wrestling. His goal was to fight against the Greek Jim Londos for the world championship in freestyle. But this fight never happened. In 1927 Ivan therefore returned to the Soviet Union .

He settled in Yeisk on the Sea of ​​Azov, continued to perform in the circus, and was a widely honored and respected athlete even under the Soviet regime, which rejected professional sport as decadent in the west. In 1945 he was named "Honored Master of Sports". In 1947 he suffered a broken leg while performing at the circus, from which he never recovered. He died on August 8, 1949.

In honor of Ivan Poddubny, a large international wrestling tournament is organized in Russia every year, which was also held during the times of the Soviet Union.

Success between 1903 and 1910

(WM = world championship, GR = Greek-Roman style, S = heavyweight)

• 1903, 5th place , World Championship in Paris , GR, S, behind Jeß Pedersen , Denmark , Raul le Boucher , France , Stanilaw Cyganiewicz = Stanislaus Zbyszko , Poland and others. Omer de Bouillon , Belgium ;

• 1904, 1st place , Grand Prix of St. Petersburg , GR, S, before Raul le Boucher u. Paul Pons , France;

• 1905, 1st place , World Championships in Paris, GR, S, before Jeß Pedersen, L. le Beaucairois, France a. A. Anglio, Martinique ;

• 1906, 1st place , World Championship in Paris, GR, S, ahead of Heinrich Eberle , Germany , A. de la Calmette, France a. Nikola Petrow , Bulgaria ;

• 1906, 1st place , World Championships in Milan , GR, S, before Jeß Pedersen, L. le Beaucairois u. Castelli, Italy ;

• 1907, 1st place , World Cup in Vienna , GR, S, before Ernst Siegfried , Germany, Jeß Pedersen u. A. de la Calmette;

• 1908, 1st place , World Championships in Paris, ahead of Iwan Saikin , Russia, A. de la Calmette u. Georgi Kascheff, Russia;

• 1909, 1st place , World Cup in Frankfurt am Main , GR, S, ahead of Heinrich Weber , Germany, Omer de Bouillon u. Nikola Petrov;

Fight in the United States

From the stay of Ivan Poddubny in the USA , the following fights, which took place in free style, are known:

• 1926 in Los Angeles , victories over Dan Koloff , Bulgaria and Harry Maxwell, USA and defeats against Joe Stecher , USA and Wladek Zybsko , the younger brother of Stanilaus Cyganiewicz-Zybsko;

• 1927 in New York City , tie against Hans Steinke , Germany

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.history.vn.ua/book/person/68.html
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ http://h.ua/story/181166
4. ↑ Page about professional wrestlers in the 19th century.

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Commons : Ivan Poddubny  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• 1) "The modern wrestling" by A. von Guretzki, published by FW Gloeckner & Co., Leipzig, 1922,
• 2) Website of the Russian Wrestling Association