Henry Wittenberg

Henry Wittenberg
Wittenberg circa 1940s
Personal information
Born(1918-09-18)September 18, 1918
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMarch 9, 2010(2010-03-09) (aged 91)
Somers, New York, U.S.
Sport
SportWrestling
ClubCity College New York, West Side YMCA, Police Association, AAU[1]
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1948 London 87 kg
Silver medal – second place 1952 Helsinki 87 kg
Maccabiah Games
Gold medal – first place 1950 Tel Aviv +87 kg
Gold medal – first place 1953 Tel Aviv +87 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing CCNY
NCAA Championships
Silver medal – second place 1939 Lancaster 175 lb
Bronze medal – third place 1938 State College 165 lb

Henry Wittenberg (September 18, 1918 – March 9, 2010) was an American New York police officer, coach, competitor and Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling.[2][1] He won two Olympic medals in freestyle wrestling (1948 and 1952), becoming the first American wrestler since 1908 to achieve this feat. After Army service in the early 1940s, he served with commendations as a New York City Police Officer until around 1954, worked as an instructor and college wrestling coach at Yeshiva and then City College of New York from 1967 to 1979, competed in, coached, and helped to organize the Maccabiah Games, and served as an American Olympic coach in 1968 at Mexico City.[3][1]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference OTB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Obituary Los Angeles Times, March 12, 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jewish Sports was invoked but never defined (see the help page).