Weighing over 400 lbs., Chris Taylor is the heaviest American Olympian of all time. Despite his weight he was a very good technical wrestler, possessed of surprising quickness. This enabled him to twice win the NCAA Championship while at Iowa State, and he also won national titles in Greco-Roman wrestling. At the München Olympics he competed in both styles, losing in the Greco event. In freestyle, however, he was beaten only by the Soviet Union’s redoubtable heavyweight, Aleksandr Medved, but in a controversial decision. It appeared Medved was stalling but the referee awarded a point to the Soviet, charging Taylor with a lack of action. Later admitting that he felt sorry for Medved because of Taylor’s size, the referee was dismissed from the Olympic tournament and banned from international officiating. Chris Taylor was a natural to go into professional wrestling and signed a very lucrative pro contract after the Olympics. However, after several successful years, he died in 1979 from complications of phlebitis, kidney failure, and hepatitis.
United States