Richard Edward Garrard, OBE (21 January 1911 – 3 March 2003) was an Australian Olympic

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

. Garrard was born on 21 January 1911 in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, Victoria. In a thirty-year career, from 1926 to 1956, Garrard lost only nine of 525 bouts, making him Australia's most successful sport wrestler ever. Between 1930 and 1956, he won every Victorian wrestling title and ten national titles in the lightweight and light welterweight divisions. This included not being beaten in a match in Australia for 25 years between 1930 and 1956. In 1934, he competed in the first of what was to be four consecutive

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

(then called the British Empire Games, and in 1954, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games) – an achievement amplified by the twelve-year gap between games from 1938 and 1950, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Garrard won the gold medal at the

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

and 1950 games, and a bronze at the 1954 games (where he was flag-bearer for the Australian team at the opening ceremony). He also competed in three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 1936 in Berlin, 1948 in London (where he won the silver medal in the welterweight division), and 1952 in Helsinki. He was forced to withdraw from the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne because of a dislocated shoulder and retired shortly after. He became an international judge and referee as well as chairman of the Olympic Wrestling Technical Committee. He was involved with the every Olympics until the 2000 Sydney Olympics (except for the 1980 Moscow Games which he boycotted) as either a judge, referee, section manager, mat chairman, a delegate to the Congress or simply as a VIP. He was manager of the Australian wrestling team at the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. He was and still is the only Australian wrestler to ever contest an Olympic final. Garrard was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 1970 Birthday Honours,Australia list: and promoted to Officer of the Order (OBE) in the 1977 New Year Honours.Australia: He was awarded an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

in 2000, and shortly afterwards took part in the Sydney Olympic torch relay, where he lit the community cauldron in

. Before his death on 3 March 2003 (aged 92), he was Australia's oldest living Olympic athlete.Nation loses wrestling veteran of four Olympics

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, 3 March 2003. Garrard was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

on 10 December 1985, and is the only wrestling inductee.

References

External links

Australian Olympic Committee Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrard, Dick 1909 births 2003 deaths Olympic wrestlers for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Wrestlers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Australian male sport wrestlers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Wrestlers at the 1934 British Empire Games Wrestlers at the 1938 British Empire Games Wrestlers at the 1950 British Empire Games Wrestlers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Geelong People educated at Xavier College Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists in wrestling Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in wrestling Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen