Torsten Reinhold "Tom" Anderson (né Andersson; 9 February 1904 – 19 December 1986) was a New Zealand

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 ...

who represented his country at the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games were the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 yea ...

Biography

Born in

Sollefteå Sollefteå () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. History The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name ...

, Sweden, on 9 February 1904, Anderson was the son of Johan Reinhold Andersson and Fanny Sofia Hägglund. Anderson began wrestling in 1925 when he met

Anton Koolmann Anton Koolmann (11 September 1899 – 29 June 1953) was a wrestler and coach from Kuusalu Parish, Estonia who took part at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Career 1924 after winning Estonian Greco-Roman wrestling National Championship ...

at the latter's newly established wrestling school in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. The pair would later reconnect in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

after both had moved to New Zealand. Anderson became a naturalised New Zealand citizen on 12 January 1938, less than a month before the

. At those games, he competed in the freestyle wrestling light-heavyweight (90 kg) division, finishing in fourth place. Anderson died in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

on 19 December 1986, and he was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Christchurch.

References

1904 births 1986 deaths Sportspeople from Sollefteå Swedish emigrants to New Zealand Naturalised citizens of New Zealand Commonwealth Games wrestlers for New Zealand Wrestlers at the 1938 British Empire Games New Zealand male sport wrestlers Burials at Memorial Park Cemetery, Christchurch 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-wrestling-bio-stub