Voldemar Väli at the 1928 Olympics
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| Born | (1903-01-10)10 January 1903 Kuressaare, Estonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 13 April 1997(1997-04-13) (aged 94) Stockholm, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Greco-Roman wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Voldemar Väli (10 January 1903 – 13 April 1997) was an Estonian two-time Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling.[1][2]
Voldemar Väli was born in Kuressaare, on the island of Saaremaa. He began training in wrestling at age 17, and four years later competed at the 1924 Olympics, but was eliminated in a preliminary bout. In 1926 he won his first European title and established himself as a world top featherweight and later lightweight wrestler. He missed the 1932 Olympics because Estonia did not send a team due to the Great Depression, and finished out of the podium at the 1933, 1934, 1937 and 1938 European Championships; however, he earned a bronze at the 1936 Summer OlympicsinBerlin.[3] Domestically he won 19 titles between 1922 and 1942 in Greco-Roman and freestyle events. During World War II in 1944 he emigrated with family to Sweden.[1][4] He ended his sporting career in 1945 after a match between the local Estonians and the team from Stockholm. He beat the Swedish champion Einar Karlsson.
Väli worked a crane operator at the Port of Tallinn.[1] In Sweden, he was a metal worker and later established a doll factory with his wife.[1]
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 Kalle Anttila (FIN) Voldemar Väli (EST) Giovanni Gozzi (ITA) Yaşar Erkan (TUR) Mehmet Oktav (TUR) Yakiv Punkin (URS) Rauno Mäkinen (FIN) Müzahir Sille (TUR) Imre Polyák (HUN) Roman Rurua (URS) Georgi Markov (BUL) Kazimierz Lipień (POL) Stelios Mygiakis (GRE) Kim Weon-kee (KOR) Kamandar Madzhidov (URS) Mehmet Akif Pirim (TUR) Włodzimierz Zawadzki (POL) Varteres Samurgashev (RUS) Jung Ji-hyun (KOR) Islambek Albiev (RUS) Omid Norouzi (IRI) | |
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