Dick Garrard

Dick Garrard had one of the longest careers of any wrestler ever and he had to overcome adversity to do so. Garrard began wrestling quite late, in 1929, at age 20, and qualified for the 1936 Olympics, where he lost two matches and was eliminated. On his return home, Garrard was virtually killed in an automobile accident in Colorado. A doctor at the Denver hospital where he was taken told him, “You’ll never wrestle again.” But only eight months later, Garrard defended his Australian title. From 1931 until his retirement in 1956, Garrard never lost a match in Australia, posting an overall lifetime mark of 516 wins and 9 losses. He won a silver medal in the 1948 Olympic welterweight freestyle class. He also won three gold medals (1934, 1938, and 1950) and one bronze medal (1954) at the Empire Games (all four in the lightweight freestyle class) and won a gold medal at the Pan-Pacific Games in 1939. Garrard competed in the 1954 World Championships and was hoping to be named to the Australian team for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. But at 47 years old, he had lost much of his form and was not selected. He retired immediately after the announcement. He was awarded an MBE in 1970 and an OBE in 1976.