Doug Blubaugh » Blubaugh vs Habibi 1960 Olympics

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Uploaded by Martin Floreani | May 17, 2011

To win the Gold Medal, Doug Blubaugh had to come back from a 5-0 deficit.

Speakers: Doug Blubaugh

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27 comments

Jamie Moffatt 2 years ago

Doug Blubaugh is the first American wrestler to win an Olympic Gold medal while serving on active duty in the Armed Services.

In Rome, Blubaugh found himself in one of the toughest weight classes. It included not just the usual formidable Russian champions, but also Imam-Ali Habibi, the 1956 Olympic champion and 1959 world champion from Iran, and Ismail Ogan of Turkey who was the World Cup winner in 1959 and would go on to win the Olympic gold medal in the 1964 Olympics.
Contrary to popular belief, Blubaugh did not meet Habibi in the final bout for the gold medal. Competition lasted two days. Blubaugh pinned all his opponents the first day. On the second day there were four undefeated competitors left vying for the 160.5 pound medals â Blubaugh, Habibi, Ogan and Pakistanâs Muhammad Bashir.
Blubaugh recalls, âI had to wrestle Habibi at 11am, Ogan at 3pm and Bashir at 7pm. Well, at the start of my match with Habibi, he comes right after me and knocks me on my ass. I get out of it, get up and boom, he does it again. Once more I get out of it but I am now behind by five points. I tell myself he canât do that to me a third time, so when he comes after me again, I flip him onto his back, hold him tightly while he is vainly bridging and pin him.
âI then wrestled Ogan and put him right on his back in the opening seconds. It was so quick that the judges didnât see it. The ref signaled âfallâ but it was waved off, so I settled for a victory by decision. In my last match against Bashir, I went out and pinned him straight away â that one gave me the gold medal.â

Dr. Arthur D. Kemp 2 years ago

Thanks for uploading this Flo.

??? 2 years ago

The movie legendary should of been about this guy

focus 2 years ago

He will be missed by many...

Anonymous Coward 2 years ago

Calling a Cement Job a Blubaugh from now on.

Cliff Fretwell 2 years ago

Calling a Cement Job a Blubaugh from now on.

Mark Bader 2 years ago

what a stud!

ksajfksjdg 2 years ago

ur my boy blu

The 2 years ago

Blubaugh's opponent was a 6 time World Champion!

erfan emadi 2 years ago

only habib,CASPIAN TIGER

Tom Toland [135-MSU] 3 years ago

Yeah well that was my coach! broadstone1020@hotmail.com

Wes Dunlap 3 years ago

I met him at our high school, he ran a clinic for us. Huh hes hilarious, and a great wrestler.

bob builder 3 years ago

i met him, have his autograph and a poster. he has a lot of energy for an old man. he is a great wrestling idol

Wray 3 years ago

What an awesome man coached me in Europe with a 92' national wrestling team.Had a Great time

4 years ago

HEy WUTz GEWd

jeff bentley 4 years ago

my college coach at Indiana for 4 years. Toughest man I ever met!!!!
But an even greater person. Love ya Blu.

ohioflint 4 years ago

Great stuff !!

Rob 4 years ago

I remember Blubaugh was at the Oklahoma State Camp and told us how he has proof you should never shoot with your arms out

Bret Stamper 4 years ago

Two tough dudes. It's cool to see techniques used back in '60 that are still common today.

I agree with Indy RR. It would be awesome to see some more classics from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Thanks for posting this Flo.
OCONE- I wrestled in the '95, '96, '97 Div III nationals, too, placed 3rd in '96 and '97 at 150 lbs for Stevens Point. I remember you well, man, you were tough, brother. Hope you're still a mat rat.

Dan OCone 4 years ago

1997-Division III National Tournament- I had a less then stellar performance, finishing in 4th place after 2-Runner-up performances the previous two years. This older gentleman with glasses on, a suit, and cowboy boots on, walks up to me and hand me a rolled up poster. He patted me on the back and told me that he had been following my career, that I had fought hard, and should hold me head up. I didn't really think anything of it and thought he was just a fan......Several months later I unrolled that poster, low and behold, it was the picture of this match, where Doug is pinning Habibi. Doug had signed it with some words of encouragement. I framed it and it hangs in my basement to this day.

RR 4 years ago

Love the reaction of the spectator at 0:57 when Blubaugh whips Habibi over. That's priceless.

IndyRR 4 years ago

This old stuff is great. Bring it on. I'd love to see more--maybe a special section of old black and white stuff as far back as you can get it. The only bad thing about it is that the rules change so often in wrestling. If you were watching an Olympics boxing match from 1960, it wouldn't seem all that different from boxing today. But with wrestling, you can't help but think how different it is. And how stupid today's freestyle rules are.

Ray Coville 4 years ago

This is a real classic, I love old wrestling film like this! Good job flowrestlr, keep up the good work. I remember meeting Mr. Blubaugh at the Michigan State Univ. wrestling camp in 1967 that I attended.

? 4 years ago

is the mat square?

Real Deal 4 years ago

WOW, excellent stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nice 4 years ago

Love how its outside!

Also gotta love how Doug, gets his hand raised, and just walks off the mat. Just became and olympic champ, and he shows no emotion. That is a special generation.