George Mehnert

George Mehnert ( born November 3, 1881 in Newark, New Jersey; † July 8, 1948 ) was an American wrestler of German ancestry.

Career

George Mehnert was a member of the National Gymnastics Club Newark, where he played basketball and started with the rings. In 1902 he won the first championship of the AAU (American Athletic Union), the still more were to follow. By 1908 he was an amateur wrestler. 1909 and 1910 he worked as a professional wrestler. After that, he was President of the National Turnverein Newark and worked until the end of the 1930s in the American Olympic Wrestling Committee. George Mehnert was the only wrestler in the world, who succeeded in the early days of international amateur wrestling to win a gold medal at two consecutive Olympics.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, Fl = flyweight, bantamweight = Ba, F = Freestyle )

National success

George Mehnert became an American Champion (AAU champion ) flyweight in the years 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1908, bantamweight in 1905 and 1906. 1907 he was vice-champion in the bantamweight, beaten by George Dole, the 1908 Olympic champion at featherweight.