About Dick Garrard
Lived 1911 – 2003 (aged 92). Dick Garrard was an Australian amateur wrestler.
Richard Edward Garrard, OBE (21 January 1911 – 3 March 2003) was an Australian Olympic wrestler.
Garrard was born on 21 January 1911 in Geelong, Victoria. In a thirty-year career, from 1926 to 1956, Garrard lost only nine of 525 bouts, making him Australia's most successful sport wrestler ever. Between 1930 and 1956, he won every Victorian wrestling title and ten national titles in the lightweight and light welterweight divisions. This included not being beaten in a match in Australia for 25 years between 1930 and 1956.
In 1934, he competed in the first of what was to be four consecutive Commonwealth Games (then called the British Empire Games, and in 1954, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games) – an achievement amplified by the twelve-year gap between games from 1938 and 1950, due to World War II. Garrard won the gold medal at the 1934, 1938 and 1950 games, and a bronze at the 1954 games (where he was flag-bearer for the Australian team at the opening ceremony). and promoted to Officer of the Order (OBE) in the 1977 New Year Honours. He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and shortly afterwards took part in the Sydney Olympic torch relay, where he lit the community cauldron in Geelong.
Before his death on 3 March 2003 (aged 92), he was Australia's oldest living Olympic athlete.
Garrard was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 10 December 1985, and is the only wrestling inductee.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Dick Garrard's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Dick Garrard?
Australian Olympic wrestler (1911-2003)
When was Dick Garrard born?
Dick Garrard was born on 21 January 1911 in Geelong.
When did Dick Garrard die?
Dick Garrard died on 1 March 2003 in Geelong.
What was Dick Garrard's occupation?
Dick Garrard was an amateur wrestler.
What nationality was Dick Garrard?
Dick Garrard was Australian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Dick Garrard. https://biography.guide/dick-garrard/
MLA: "Dick Garrard." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/dick-garrard/.
Chicago: "Dick Garrard." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/dick-garrard/.
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