Bert Eillebrecht

Bert Eillebrecht was a passionate wrestler and competed in the lightweight and middleweight divisions, respectively, of the classical style at two Olympics. In 1912, he was eliminated after two defeats against Finnish opponents. In 1920, he lost his first bout against the eventual gold medal winner Carl Westergren from Sweden. In the round for place two, future silver medalist Arthur Lindfors proved to be too strong for Eillebrecht. His best international result was a fourth place in the 70 kg division at the unofficial World Championship in Dresden in 1911.

Eillebrecht earned his living as a warehouse worker and as a bicycle mechanic. Later he took up coaching and was in charge of the Dutch wrestlers in Greco-Roman style at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Two of his sons went on to become Dutch wrestling champions as well. All of them joined the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging during the German occupation in World War II allowing them to continue coaching and practicing their sport. After the war Bert and his sons were, therefore, suspended until 1951 although, at the same time, they helped people persecuted by the Nazis and were suspected to have contacts with the Dutch resistance.