David Aspin

Wrestler David Aspin shares a rare honour with famous Olympic sprinter Arthur Porritt.

Aspin and Porritt are the only two people to have twice carried the New Zealand flag into an Olympic opening ceremony.

Porritt carried the flag in Paris in 1924, the year he won the bronze medal in the 100m ‘Chariots of Fire’ race, and in Amsterdam in 1928. Aspin did the honours at Munich in 1972 and must have handled his duties well because at the following Olympics, in Montreal in 1976, he was again named team captain.

Aspin, born in Waiuku in 1950, and a product of St Paul’s College, Auckland, was already a prominent wrestler by the end of the 1960s. He won New Zealand titles in the 82kg division in 1969, 1971-73 and 1975, and in the 90kg grade in 1974. He also won the H M Allan Cup for the most scientific wrestler at the national championships in 1969.

The Aucklander attended his first Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970, when he and Englishman Ron Grinstead were each awarded a bronze medal in the middleweight (82kg) category, behind Indian Harish Rajindra and Canadian Nick Schori.

Aspin faced a considerable step up in class at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when he contested the middleweight category. He had an unusual experience in his opening bout, against Indian Harishchandra Birajdar, when both fighters were disqualified after just over 7 minutes for being too passive. In his next bout he was lost the decision to Iranian Ali Hagilou.

The New Zealander hit his best form at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, winning the middleweight gold medal. He gained falls over Australian Wes O’Brien (in 4min 49s) and Grinstead, the man he’d shared the bronze with four years earlier, in 1min 55s. Into the business end of the event, Aspin then beat main rival and eventual silver medallist Sat Pal of India on points after a tough battle, before finishing with a second-round fall victory over Canadian Taras Hryb to confirm the gold medal. He was New Zealand’s first Games wrestling champion for 24 years.

Aspin completed his Games experience at Montreal in 1976, where he found the opposition too hot. He lost his first bout, against Mongolian Chimidiin Gochoosüren, on points and was then quickly dispatched by Japan’s Masaru Motegi, losing by a fall after 41 seconds.

In 2022, David Aspin was made a life member of the New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union.