Sam Parker

Sam Parker took up wrestling at a young age at the behest of his brother and soon developed his talents in the sport. He was selected as an alternate with the Australian team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but had to wait until 1960 to actually compete. There, he took part in the freestyle, featherweight category, but withdrew after losing his first bout.

Parker had a much more successful career as a wrestling coach, which he began in 1965 and ended only shortly prior to his death. Over the course of more than a half-century, he had a hand in training the majority of Australia’s internationally successful wrestlers. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2023 for his services to wrestling.