Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Vihti, Uusimaa, Finland
About Johan Olin
- Johan Fredrik "John" Olin (June 30, 1883 – December 3, 1928) was a Finnish wrestler who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.
- He won the silver medal in the heavyweight class.In 1916, Olin captured a claim to the World Heavyweight championship after a controversial bout with Joe Stecher in Springfield, Massachusetts.
- On December 12, 1916, In one of the great forgotten matches and upsets in wrestling history, he defeated Stecher.
- After 2 hrs and 40 min., both wrestlers ended up outside the ring brawling.
- Olin wanted to continue but Stecher declined to return to the ring.
- Olin was awarded the bout by the referee.
- Stecher injured his shoulder during the match and was out of the ring for over 1½ months.
- In newspaper reports no mention of the title is made.
- Why the public continued to support Stecher is unclear.
- John Olin's promoters claimed the World Title but Olin was mild mannered and didn't make much noise about being the champion.
- It may be that the press refused to accept Olin as champion because his win was fluke due to injury and no one believe Olin could truly defeat Stecher.
- Also Frank Gotch was still alive at the time and many still saw him as the "real" world champion.
- As Stecher didn't consider himself defeated, the idea of Olin as champ had much going against it.
- This claim to the title, called the Olin Line by historians, did continue.
- Olin lost his claim "world title" to Ed "Strangler" Lewis in Chicago on May 2, 1917.
- After 2 hours and 37 minutes, John Olin concedes match due to a shoulder injury.
- Referee was Frank Gotch and he praised Lewis as the best.
- The Strangler would not be as mild manner as Olin, and actively claimed the title.
- Olin resided in Worcester, Massachusetts during his stay in the United States, and wrestled as a professional for several years.
- He died in Ingå, Finland.
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