Oscar KAPLUR

Oskar Kaplur was one of the most famoust Estonian amateur wrestlers before the World War I. In 1911 he was fifth at the World Championships. In 1912 he won gold at the Unofficial European Championships (he won with fall all his seven opponents) and was first in the Russian Championships. Along with two other Estonians August Kippasto and Georg Baumann, Oskar Kaplur was selected to the Russian 1912 Olympic team in wrestling’s lightweight class. In Stockholm he was successful at first. He won his first three matches against Brit William Hayes, Italian Alessandro Covre (with fall) and Finn Alfred Salonen (with points). In the fourth round he lost to a later gold medalist Emil Wäre, but won his next match against Finn Aatami Tanttu with walkover. In the sixth round he lost again to a Finn Tatu Kolehmainen, and did not advance to the final round. After winning the 1913 North-European Championships, Kaplur moved to United States, where he didn’t lose a single match during his five years stay. After returning to Europe in 1918, Kaplur settled to Russia where he worked in various positions in the aviation field for a long time. He died in Moscow, aged 73.