Werner Bürki

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Werner "Willy" Bürki (* 4. July 1909 in Worb , Canton of Bern , † 15. February 1979 in Bern ) was a Swiss wrestler and oscillators . He became European heavyweight freestyle wrestling champion in 1931 and 1933 . In 1934 he became king of wrestling in Bern .

Career

Werner Bürki, who was only called "Willy" in sports circles, grew up on his parents' farm in Bümpliz . He learned the trade of a butcher and was later employed by the city of Bern. In Bümpliz, he began as a teenager with the Swiss national sport of wrestling and, in parallel, with freestyle wrestling. Both sports are somewhat similar in that leg attacks are allowed in each case.

As a wrestler, Werner Bürki won the Swiss light heavyweight and heavyweight championships several times . In 1931 he started at the European Championships in Budapest , where he won the heavyweight division with victories over Léon Charlier from Belgium and Jószef Varga from Hungary . At the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932 he could not start because Switzerland only sent a small team to these games for cost reasons, for which he was not considered. At the European Championships in freestyle wrestling in Paris in 1933 , he won the heavyweight title again. He defeated it L. Ghevaert from France and Léon Charlier.

In 1936 Werner Bürki started again in the heavyweight division at the Olympic Games in Berlin . There he defeated Georg Gehring from Germany and Roy Dunn from the United States, but then lost to Nils Åkerlindh from Sweden and Kristjan Palusalu from Estonia , which earned him sixth place.

Werner Bürki was active as a wrestler from 1931 to 1945. The greatest success he got was his victory at the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Bern in 1934, where he had eight wins and the title of King of Wrestling . In 1940 he was first crowned in Solothurn together with Otto Marti.

International success as a freestyle wrestler

year space competition Weight class Results
1931 1. European championship in Budapest Heavy after victories over Léon Charlier, Belgium, and Jószef Varga, Hungary
1933 1. European Championship in Paris Heavy after victories over L. Ghevaert, France, and Léon Charlier
1936 6th Olympic Games in Berlin Heavy after victories over Georg Gehring, Germany, and Roy Dunn, USA, and defeats against Nils Åkerlindh, Sweden, and Kristjan Palusalu, Estonia

literature

  • Athletics magazine .
  • Olle Larsson, Peter Irdén: Documentation of International Wrestling Championships 1896–1976. FILA, Lausanne 1976.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The heavyweight weight class was then for athletes over 87 kg body weight (today: over 96 kg).
personal data
SURNAME Bürki, Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bürki, Willy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss wrestlers and wrestlers
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Worb , Canton of Bern
DATE OF DEATH 15th February 1979
Place of death Bern