John's Story
1912 – 1983
John O’Hara was 23 at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games and one of three Australian wrestlers who competed. He and Dick Garrard learnt their wrestling at the Victorian Railways Institute gym in Melbourne and Eddie Scarf was from Sydney. Travelling by ship with the Australian team to the Games they tried to maintain their training while on board.
Scarf, who became Australia’s first medallist at the Los Angeles 1932 Games with bronze, placed sixth in 1936. O’Hara progressed to the third round and Garrard who won silver at London 1948 was eliminated in the second round.
They were undoubtedly the best Australian wrestling team at any Games, but they came up against some unfamiliar judging rules and were 'unfairly' penalised, according to the post-Games report which refers to the judging diplomatically.
The Second World War then stalled their careers, with the loss of two Games in their prime years.
O’Hara was Australian wrestling champion in varying weight categories for 14 years, plus weight-lifting, finishing as a heavyweight. In those days natural sportsmen could spread their talent around - he played water polo and rowed in 8's for Victoria, was runner-up in Victorian high-diving, surfed on the first big hollow boards at Torquay in the 30s-40s, water-skied with Gelignite Jack Murray (his Bondi flatmate), and drove in the Redex Round Australia car rallies in the 1950s.
