Patrick "Pat" J. Bolger

Patrick John Bolger was born in Alexandria on January 31st, 1948 when his father was a Staff Member of Alexandria High School. He and his family resided there. At a young age, the family moved to Dutton, Ontario, where Pat received his schooling. He attended the University of Oklahoma on a wrestling scholarship and later the University of Waterloo, graduating with an Honours degree in Physical Education.

Pat was twice named the Canadian Junior Athlete of the Year, winning the Viscount Alexander Award. In Judo, Pat won the Canadian Judo title four times. He captured the North American Junior Judo title in Miami in 1965 and was 2nd in the North American High School Championships in San Jose, California

He was a silver medal winner at the 1967 Pan Am Games held in Winnipeg, Manitoba and a bronze medal winner at the World Finals in the same year. In 1969, Pat ranked 3rd in the U.S. Open “A” All Championships. In the 1970’s, Pat was ranked 3rd in the World. He won silver at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and bronze in the 1971 Pan Am games. He was a member of the National team at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.In addition to Judo, Pat Bolger was a seven time Canadian Open wrestling champion. In 1972, he was a member of both the Canadian Olympic Judo and Wrestling teams, the only person in Canadian history up to that time to have qualified for two Olympic teams in two different sports. He was a silver medalist in the 1970 British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland and a bronze medalist in the 1971 Pan Am Games held in Winnipeg. He placed sixth in the University World Games in Moscow. Patrick Bolger holds a nine-year record-undefeated by a Canadian.Pat Bolger retired from competition in 1973. In 1974, he coached the Canadian National Team in the Tel Aviv memorial tournament.

• In 1984 Pat Bolger was inducted into the University of Waterloo Warriors Hall of Fame.
• In 1986 he was inducted into the Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame.
• In 2004 Pat was inducted into the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame.

Canadian Wrestling Highlights:

• three time O-QAA wrestling champion• three time CIAU wrestling champion• silver medal winner in Commonwealth Games• four time national wrestling champion• four time national judo champion• represented Canada at the Olympics• graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Honours Recreation.

Olympic Highlights

Special Notes:

• Listed in Olympians Who Won a Medal at the Summer Pan American Games (0–1–1 1967 Winnipeg JUD silver: featherweight -63 kg; 1971 Cali WRE bronze: featherweight -62 kg)
• Listed in Olympians Who Won a Medal at the British Empire/Commonwealth Games (0–1–0 1970 Edinburgh WRE silver: featherweight -62 kg)
• Pat Bolger had the following finishes at major championships in wrestling: 1970 British Commonwealth Games: 62.0 kg. Freestyle (2nd); 1971 Pan American Games: 63.0 kg. Freestyle (3rd); 1967 Pan American Games: 63.0 kg. Freestyle (4th).
• In judo he won a silver medal in the featherweight class (-63 kg) at the 1967 Pan American Games.

References:OlympediaUniversity of Waterloo Dept. of AthleticsGlengarry Sports Hall of Fame