Joseph Atiyeh ( ar, جوزيف عطية, born October 8, 1957) is a retired Syrian

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

and the winner of Syria's first Olympic medal.

Early life

Atiyeh was born in

Amar al-Husn Amar al-Husn ( ar, عمار الحصن; also known simply as 'Amar) is a village in northern Syria located west of Homs in the Homs Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Amar al-Husn had a population of 373 in the 200 ...

Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographic ...

, Syria. His parents immigrated to Allentown, Pennsylvania when he was two years old.

Career

Atiyeh wrestled at Dieruff High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

, he represented his country in the freestyle heavyweight 100 kg competition, and won a silver medal. Though Atiyeh lived most of his life in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and studied at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, where he was on the school's wrestling team, he qualified as a dual citizen and wrestled for Syria. Atiyeh made it to the finals against

Lou Banach Ludwig David "Lou" Banach (born February 6, 1960) is an American athlete who won a gold medal in wrestling in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was noted with his fraternal twin brother Ed Banach for both winning gold medals in frees ...

of the United States and lost by fall in 61 seconds. Atiyeh had wrestled Banach in 1978 at the Midlands wrestling championship in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Atiyeh wrestled for Louisiana State University and won 13-10 in his first round of the championship against Banach. At the 1984 Olympics, Atiyeh's victories included a win over

Vasile Pușcașu Vasile Puşcaşu (born 2 May 1956) is a retired heavyweight freestyle wrestler from Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, So ...

from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

by fall in the first round. Puscassu went on to win the 1988 Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight category in Seoul, Korea. Atiyeh also beat Kartar Singh of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

by fall in 33 seconds.

Personal life

Atiyeh's younger brother, Dennis Atiyeh, represented Syria in the freestyle super-heavyweight category at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atiyeh, Joseph 1957 births Living people People from Homs Governorate Syrian Christians Louis E. Dieruff High School alumni Louisiana State University alumni Olympic wrestlers of Syria Wrestlers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Syrian male sport wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for Syria Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Syrian emigrants to the United States