| Jim Peckham | |
| Full Name: | James Cameron Peckham |
| Sport: | Wrestling |
| Event: | Greco-Roman |
| Birth Date: | 30 August 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Jim Peckham (August 30, 1929 - August 23, 2011) was an American wrestler and coach.[1] [2] He competed in the men's Greco-Roman middleweight at the 1956 Summer Olympics.[3] [4]
Peckham was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1929.[1] Several members of Peckham's family were also wrestlers.[1] His father was a professional in the 1930s,[1] his son wrestled during the 1970s,[1] and his daughter wrestled against Andy Kaufman on Saturday Night Live in 1979.[1] His brother, Tom, also competed at the Olympics,[5] competing in the men's freestyle 87 kg at the 1968 Summer Olympics.[6]
At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Peckham competed in the men's Greco-Roman middleweight event,[7] where he was eliminated in round three (of five).[8] He coached the US wrestling team at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics.[2] [9]
After working for an electric company, Peckham became the wrestling coach at Emerson College.[1] [10] He later was the Athletic Director at the college for nearly 30 years.[1] [2] In 1986, he became the wrestling coach at Harvard University.[1] [11]
Peckham was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000.[2] He died in August 2011 in Braintree, Massachusetts after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[12]