Patrick 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.

Patrick 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, Patrick Bolger was seven times 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.

Patrick Bolger retired from competition in 1973. In 1974, he coached the Canadian National Team in the Tel Aviv memorial tournament. In 1986 he was inducted into the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame. He now resides in Toronto.