Nickolaus Hirschl

Nickolaus (also "Nikolaus") "Mickey" (also "Micki") Hirschl (March 20, 1906 – October 10, 1991) was an Austrian Olympic-medal-winning wrestler. He was also a European heavyweight wrestling champion, and for 10 years he held the title of Austrian heavyweight wrestling champion. He was also an Austrian shot put and discus junior champion, Austrian heavyweight weightlifting junior champion, and for seven years the Austrian pentathlon champion.

Early life Hirschl was Jewish, and was born in Vienna, Austria. His parents were kosher butchers, and his father was president of a synagogue.

Sports career At 15 years of age, he won the Austrian junior championship in shot put and discus.

At the age of 18, he won the Austrian heavyweight wrestling championship.

At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, he won a bronze medal in heavyweight freestyle, and a bronze medal in heavyweight Greco-Roman.

In 1936, he boycotted the Olympics which were to be held in Berlin, Nazi Germany, refusing to participate due to the racial policies of the Nazis. After the war, he married and moved to Australia in 1947, where he ran a meat business.

He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.