George Hackenschmidt
| George Hackenschmidt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hackenschmidt, circa. 1905 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | August 1, 1877 Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (now Tartu, Estonia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | February 19, 1968 (aged 90) London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional wrestling career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Billed height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Billed weight | 100 kg (220 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trained by | Ferdinand Gruhn Vladislav Krayevskiy Georg Lurich | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debut | 1898 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1911 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (1 August 1877 – 19 February 1968) was an Estonian strongman, amateur and professional wrestler, writer, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion. Hackenschmidt began his professional career in Tallinn (Reval), Estonia (then part of the Russian Empire), and after an 1899 tournament in Paris was often referred in the media by the moniker "The Russian Lion". He lived most of his middle age and later life in London, England.
He is believed to be the creator of the professional wrestling version of the bear hug as well as the person who popularised the hack squat; additionally, Hackenschmidt is also attributed as the creator of the bench press. He was known for his impressive strength, fitness, and flexibility. Later in life, he wrote many books on physical culture, training and philosophy.