Josef Růžička

Josef Růžička (born March 17, 1925 in Prague , † April 11, 1986 in Prague) was a Czechoslovakian wrestler . He won a silver medal in the Greco-Roman style in the heavyweight division at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 .

Life

Josef Růžička began wrestling as a teenager in his hometown of Prague. He worked in both styles, Greco-Roman and free style and belonged to the following associations: ČKD "Stalingrad" Prague , "Vinohrady" Prague and "Rudá hvězda" Prague . He always wrestled in the heavyweight division, the weight category over 87 kg, and was a member of the Czechoslovak security forces.

Career

Josef Růžička represented his country for the first time in 1946 at an international championship, namely the European Free Style Championship in Stockholm . He lost his fights there against Bertil Antonsson from Sweden and Mehmet Çoban from Turkey and only reached the 7th and last place. In 1948 he fought at the Olympics in London in two styles. In the free style he came to victories over Robert Hutton from the United States and Fritz Oberländer from Canada . Then he lost to Gyula Bóbis from Hungary and was eliminated from the tournament. But he reached a good 5th place. In the Greco-Roman style he was unlucky, because he had to retire from the tournament due to an injury after a victorious fight against Jozsef Taranyi from Hungary and only came in 9th place.

In 1951 Josef Růžička fought in two international matches between the GDR and Czechoslovakia in Leuna and Greiz . He won points over Herbert Albrecht and Adolf Sillmann. In another international match he defeated Taisto Kangasniemi from Finland on points that year .

Also in 1952 he started at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in both styles. In the free style he lost to Bertil Antonsson and Taisto Kangasniemi and only came in 9th place. He was much more successful in the Greco-Roman style. He defeated Jozsef Kovacs, Hungary, lost to Guido Fantoni from Italy , then defeated Bengt Fahlkvist , Sweden, Willi Waltner from Germany and Tauno Kovanen from Finland. In the fight for the gold medal, he then lost to Johannes Kotkas from the Soviet Union . Winning the Olympic silver medal was and remained the greatest success of his career.

At the World Cup in 1953 in Naples in the Greco-Roman style he had Lospech, because he met after a victory over Antonius Georgoulis from Greece on the favorites Bertil Antonsson and Johannes Kotkas, against which lost. He came in this world championship on the 7th place.

Josef Růžička also competed in the Greco-Roman style at the 1955 World Cup in Karlsruhe . He won there over Ferenc Fülöp from Hungary and Antonius Georgoulis and then lost against Alexander Masur from the Soviet Union and against Bertil Antonsson. With these results he achieved a respectable 4th place.

At the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 , he was no longer there because Czechoslovakia could only send a very small team to these games for financial reasons. He also did not contest other international championships afterwards.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	style	Results
1946	7th	EM in Stockholm	Heavy	F.	after losing to Bertil Antonsson , Sweden and Mehmet Çoban , Turkey
1948	5.	OS in London	Heavy	F.	after victories over Robert Hutton, USA and Fritz Oberländer, Canada and a defeat against Gyula Bóbis , Hungary
1948	9.	OS in London	Heavy	GR	retired due to injury after defeating Jozsef Taranyi, Hungary
1952	silver	OS in Helsinki	Heavy	GR	after victory over Jozsef Kovacs, Hungary, defeat against Guido Fantoni , Italy , victories over Bengt Fahlkvist , Sweden, Willi Waltner , Germany and Tauno Kovanen , Finland and defeat against Johannes Kotkas , Soviet Union
1953	7th	World Cup in Naples	Heavy	GR	after a win over Antonios Georgoulis, Greece and losses to Bertil Antonsson and Johannes Kotkas
1953	3.	World Youth Festival in Bucharest	Heavy	F.	behind Arsen Mekokishvili , Soviet Union and Kenneth Richmond , Great Britain
1955	4th	World Cup in Karlsruhe	Heavy	GR	after victories over Ferenc Fülöp, Hungary and Georgios Georgoulis and defeats against Alexander Masur , Soviet Union and Bertil Antonsson
1956	1.	Intern. Tournament in Prague	Heavy	GR	before Iwan Bogdan , Soviet Union and Karel Simek, Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovak Championships

(as far as known)

year	space	Weight class	style	Results
1951	1.	Heavy	GR	before Huspenina and Hadacek
1951	1.	Heavy	F.	before Karel Simek
1952	1.	Heavy	GR	before J. Gröber and Karel Simek
1954	1.	Heavy	GR	before M. Kindl and Karel Simek
1954	1.	Heavy	F.	before M. Kindl and Karel Simek
1955	1.	Heavy	GR	before Karel Simek and Bohumil Kubát
1955	1.	Heavy	F.	before M. Kindl and Vl. Zemla
1956	1.	Heavy	GR	before Karel Simek and Bohumil Kubat

Explanations

• GR = Greco-Roman style, F = free style
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship EM = European Championship
• Heavy weight, at that time over 87 kg body weight

swell

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

Web links

• Josef Růžička in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )