Bert Sansum

Herbert “Bert” Sansum was the British bantamweight wrestling champion three years in succession 1927-29, but saw his run ended in 1930 by Joe Reid of Leigh. Sansum also won the 1929 featherweight title after beating Lionel Wills of the Ashdown Club. Sansum also appeared in three other national finals, losing in the 1925 bantamweight final, and featherweight in both 1925 and 1927.

Sansum won the bantamweight trials for both the 1924 and 1928 Olympics and, in the latter, just missed out on a bronze medal after losing to Canada’s Jim Trifunov. Sansum competed in the 1929 European Championships at Paris and the following year was back in the French capital as a member of the Great Britain team in a match against France. At the 1934 British Empire Games he was reserve to Joe Reid in the bantamweight class.