Pasquale Passarelli

West German Greco-Roman wrestler Pasquale Passarelli won the gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the heavyweight class. In the final, Passarelli went ahead on points but his opponent Masaki Eto had him close to a pin for the last 1½ minutes of the match but could never quite turn him, and Passarelli held on to win gold. He also won the 1981 World Championships and won a bronze medal in 1978. In 1979 and 1984 he was European Championship runner-up.

Pasquale Passarelli won the German national titles 1978-79 and 1981-84. He later turned to coaching. By profession, he was a real estate agent. His brother Claudio was also an Olympic wrestler and World Champion, in 1989. The family was of Italian descent.

Within a year of the Los Angeles Olympics, Passarelli was arrested and convicted for smuggling stolen money in France and Paraguay. Subsequently, he was sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment in 1986. Another one of his brothers, Thomas, was sentenced to one year on probation and his father-in-law, and ring leader, Egon Busch to four years and six months. In 2020, Passarelli was sentenced to 18 months probation for aiding and abetting drug trafficking.