Anatoly Aleksandrovich Roshchin (russian: Анатолий Александрович Рощин, 10 March 1932 – 5 January 2016) was a heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Russia. Between 1962 and 1972 he won nine medals at the Summer Olympics and world championships, including four gold medals.
sports-reference.comRoschtschin, Anatoli (URS)
iat.uni-leipzig.deSomov, Yuri (5 January 2016

. rsport.ru Roshchin lost his father during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and had to start working as a shepherd aged 10. In 1950, seeking a better job, he moved from his village to Moscow.Анатолий РОЩИН: «Самое страшное в спорте – это отдых»
wrestling.com.ua (10 November 2014) At the time he trained in weightlifting and basketball and changed to wrestling only in 1954, while serving in the Soviet Navy. His career was interrupted in 1957, when he was diagnosed with a

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The t ...

disorder that required a complex surgery. He recovered by 1960, and in 1961 placed second at the Soviet championships. He also placed second at the 1962 World Championships and 1964 and 1968 Olympics, losing to István Kozma on all occasions, but won the world and Olympic titles in 1963, 1969, 1970 and 1972. Roshchin needed to wind himself up 10–15 minutes before a bout, and for this purpose would often start a friendly verbal brawl with teammates. By 1972, when he was 40 years old, he was already working as a coach and looking into retirement. He was convinced to compete at the Munich Olympics by the Soviet Sports minister Sergey Pavlov, and won the gold medal. In the last bout he won by default against

Wilfried Dietrich Wilfried Dietrich (14 October 1933 – 2 June 1992) was a German heavyweight wrestler. Between 1956 and 1972 he took part in five Olympics and six world championships, often entering both the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling contests – a ...

, who had a spectacular victory earlier in the tournament and did not want to spoil it by a potential loss. Roshchin retired after the Olympics and later worked as a sports instructor and an international wrestling referee.

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* 1932 births 2016 deaths Soviet male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Russian male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Champions World Wrestling Champions {{USSR-wrestling-bio-stub