Fred Meyer (wrestler) explained

Fred Meyer
Full Name:Frederick Julius Meyer
Birth Date:17 May 1900
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Country:United States
Team:USA
Club:Chicago Hebrew Institute
Sport:Wrestling
Event:Freestyle

Frederick Julius Meyer (May 17, 1900  - March 12, 1983) was an American wrestler who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics winning a bronze medal and later had a successful professional wrestling career. Meyer, who was Jewish [1] [2] was born in Chicago and died in Los Angeles.[3] He attended DePaul University.

1920 Olympic bronze medal

In 1920, he won the Olympic bronze medal in the freestyle wrestling heavyweight class in Antwerp.[4] In the competition, he tied for third with Ernst Nilsson of Sweden. In the wrestle-off for the bronze medals, they wrestled two 15-minute bouts before the match was called a draw and two bronze medals were awarded.[5]

Meyer had an excellent record in American competition. He won six Central AAU and four National AAU titles. He won both the 191 lb. and heavyweight divisions at the 1922 National Championships. He later became very successful as a professional wrestler.[5]

As part of a trend in which religious and ethnic organizations used their facilities to develop competitive athletes, Meyer was one of a number of national champions whose skills were fostered at the Chicago Hebrew Institute.[6] Meyer, who had been wrestling for the Chicago Hebrew Institute since he was nine years old, joined Walter Mauer of the Institute at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium, marking the first time that Jewish athletes representing a Jewish club had been selected for the U.S. team.[7] Dr. George Eisen of Nazareth College included Meyer on his list of Jewish Olympic Medalists.[8]

Meyer died on March 12, 1983, of heart failure at Century City Hospital in Los Angeles.[9]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and the 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. 9781561719075 . May 28, 2014. Horvitz . Peter S. . April 2007 . SP Books .
  2. Web site: The Advocate: America's Jewish Journal, Volume 59. Google Books . 1920 . May 28, 2014.
  3. Web site: Fred Meyer . Olympedia . 11 September 2021.
  4. Fred Meyer . dead . September 9, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130925024054/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/fred-meyer-2.html . September 25, 2013 .
  5. Web site: Fred Meyer, Olympics.com.
  6. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2213.html "Wrestling"
  7. Staff. "Local News: Chicago Hebrew Institute", The Reform Advocate, July 24, 1920, p. 650. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  8. Eisen, George. "Jewish Olympic Medalists", International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  9. "Names in the News", The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, pg. 38, 16 March 1983