Joe Schleimer’s greatest international victory came at the 1934 British Empire Games, where he defeated William Fox of England and Rashid Anwar of India to win the gold medal in the welterweight wrestling division. He had won the Canadian Championships in this category in 1934 and 1935 and would capture the title again in 1936, earning himself a trip to that year’s Summer Olympics, where he competed in his specialty. He defeated Anwar in the opening round, but then lost to Frank Lewis of the United States, the eventual gold medalist, and acquired three “bad points”. He staved off elimination in his next two matches by overcoming Julien Beke of Belgium and Willy Angst of Switzerland, and then received a bye to the final, where he was bested by Thure Andersson of Sweden and settled for a bronze medal. It would be Canada’s last wrestling podium finish at the Olympics until 1984, when Bob Molle and Chris Rinke took super-heavyweight silver and middleweight bronze respectively. After retiring from active competition, Schleimer later became involved in sports administration and was named chairman of the wrestling committee of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada in 1961. He also served as head of the Central Ontario Wrestling Association into the 1970s. He was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1960.
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