The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad and commonly known as Antwerp 1920, were an international multi-sport event held in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium.
The 1904 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 1 July to 23 November 1904. Many events were conducted at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. This was the first time that the Olympic Games were held outside Europe.
Vincent "Vince" Edward Matthews is an American former sprinter, winner of two Olympic gold medals, at the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics.
John William Smith is an American folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Smith was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, and a six-time world level champion with two Olympic Championships and four World Wrestling Championships. Smith is the only American wrestler ever to win six consecutive World and Olympic championships as a competitor. At the end of his competitive career, Smith had won more World and Olympic gold medals in wrestling than any other American. Smith was widely known for his low single leg takedown, and is considered one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time.
The United States competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 400 competitors, 316 men and 84 women, took part in 185 events in 21 sports.
Adam Birch, better known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE. Birch was most recently signed to Ring of Honor, where he worked as a producer, trainer, and member of the creative team.
Paul Vincent Costello was an American triple Olympic gold medal winner in rowing. He was the first rower to win a gold medal in the same event, double sculls, at three consecutive Olympics. He also won numerous national titles in both the single and double scull in the 1920s.
Rowing at the 1920 Summer Olympics, the first Olympics after World War I, saw five events. The competitions were held from 27 to 29 August in Antwerp, Belgium.
The United States competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 297 competitors, 251 men and 46 women, took part in 139 events in 18 sports.
Larry Jamill Kelly is an American freestyle wrestler. He represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games where he earned a silver medal in men's freestyle wrestling at 66 kg. Kelly is currently a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wrestling coaching staff, as well as being the head coach for the Tar Heel Wrestling Club RTC in Chapel Hill.
Kendall Duane Cross is an American freestyle wrestler, wrestling coach and Olympic gold medalist. He won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he wrestled in the 57 kilogram weight class. He defeated Guivi Sissaouri of Canada 5–3 in the final match. Cross also competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics where he placed sixth. He had defeated the eventual winner and the two-time world champion Alejandro Puerto of Cuba in a previous tournament but lost 10–6 in round six of the elimination rounds.
Wayne Curtis Collett was an African-American Olympic sprinter. Collett won a silver medal in the 400 m at the 1972 Summer Olympics. During the medal ceremony Collett and winner Vincent Matthews talked to each other, shuffled their feet, stroked their chins and fidgeted while the US national anthem played, leading many to believe it was a Black Power protest like the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
Valentin Dimitrov Yordanov, also transliterated Jordanov, is a retired Bulgarian freestyle wrestler who competed in the up to 52 kg weight class. He is an Olympic gold medalist, seven-time World Champion, seven-time European Champion, and the only wrestler to hold 10 medals from the World Wrestling Championships.
John Franklin Spellman was an American wrestler and football player. He competed at the 1924 Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling, where he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight (87 kg) division. After college, Spellman became a professional wrestler and football player in the NFL. Spellman played American football as a right end for the Providence Steam Rollers and Boston Braves from 1925 to 1932.
Mijaín López Núñez is a Cuban retired Greco-Roman wrestler. Widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, López is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time World Champion, and five-time Pan American Games champion. He is the younger brother of Michel López Núñez, a Cuban amateur boxer. On 3 July 2024, he and the Cuban judoka Idalys Ortíz were designated as the flag bearers for Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Søren Marinus Jensen was a Danish sport wrestler who competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games and the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics. He won medals at each Game; however, the gold medals he won at the 1906 Games are no longer considered to be Olympic medals. He remains Denmark's most successful wrestler at the Olympics. In addition, he was World Champion in 1905 and won multiple European championship silver medals.
Lindsay Miller is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by her ring name Nicole Matthews. Matthews regularly wrestles for Shimmer Women Athletes and Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling among other independent promotions. She regularly teamed with fellow Canadian wrestler the now retired Portia Perez as the Canadian NINJAs, and the pair former two-time Shimmer Tag Team Champions.
Gregory P. Gibson is an American former wrestler who competed in the 100 kg weight division. He is the only American to win World medals in three styles of wrestling — Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Sambo.
Ruslan Bodișteanu is a Moldovan freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's lightweight and welterweight categories. He has held two World Junior Championship titles, and later represented his nation Moldova in two editions of the Olympic Games. Throughout his sporting career, Bodisteanu has been training under his personal coach and mentor Nicolae Oreol for the Olympic Sports Club in Chișinău before he became an assistant coach of the national wrestling team. Bodisteanu is also the twin brother of Moldova's current youth and sports minister Octavian Bodişteanu.
Elman Asgarov is a retired amateur Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's welterweight category. He captured a silver medal in the same division at the 2002 European Wrestling Championships in his hometown Baku, and later represented his nation Azerbaijan at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Throughout his sporting career, Asgarov has been training under his personal coach and mentor Yakub Mamedov for SKA Neftçi.
