Carl Westergren

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameCarl Oscar•Westergren
Used nameCarl•Westergren
Nick/petnamesCalle
Born13 October 1895 in Malmö, Skåne (SWE)
Died5 August 1958 in Malmö, Skåne (SWE)
AffiliationsIK Sparta, Malmö (SWE)
NOC Sweden
Medals OG
Gold 3
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 3

Biography

Carl Westergren of Sweden is the most successful Olympic wrestler in the Greco-Roman style. A four-time Olympian, he won gold medals in 1920 (middleweight), 1924 (light-heavyweight) and 1932 (unlimited) but in 1928, when he was defending his light-heavyweight title, he was surprisingly pinned in the first round by Onni Pellinen of Finland and withdrew from the competition. His total of three Olympic gold medals is a record shared with Ivar Johansson, Aleksandr Medved, and Aleksandr Karelin. Westergren was the world middleweight champion in 1922, and was also a three-time European champion in three different weight classes – 1925 as a middleweight, 1930 as a light-heavyweight, and 1931 in the unlimited class. In addition he won 13 national championships between 1917-33. He earned his living as a bus driver from Malmö, but he later ran a car rental company. Westergren also became involved in trotting races and kept racing pigeons as his hobby. In 2003 he was one of the first athletes to be inducted into the International Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1920 Summer Olympics Wrestling SWE Carl Westergren
Middleweight, Greco-Roman, Men (Olympic) 1 Gold
1924 Summer Olympics Wrestling SWE Carl Westergren
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men (Olympic) 1 Gold
Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle, Men (Olympic) =6
1928 Summer Olympics Wrestling SWE Carl Westergren
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men (Olympic) 17
1932 Summer Olympics Wrestling SWE Carl Westergren
Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men (Olympic) 1 Gold