Bobby Weaver to be inducted into New York Athletic Club Hall of Fame

Jim O´Brien New York Athletic Club
02/08/2007

NEW YORK, February 10th, 2007 - Seven New York Athletic Club members, including 1984 Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Bobby Weaver, will be inducted into the NYAC Hall of Fame at a gala dinner on February 15th.

Weaver won the Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling (105.5 lbs.) in 1984 in Los Angeles after making the 1980 team that did not compete in Moscow because of the boycott. He won two World Cup titles at 105.5 lbs., and notched second and fifth place finishes at the World Championships. He was an All-America at Lehigh in 1982.

The six other inductees are:

Wellington Mara, owner of the New York Giants;

Heather Moody, Nicolle Payne and Natalie Golda, members of the bronze medal-winning U.S. Olympic water polo team in Athens in 2004, who constitute the first female NYAC members to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Blaine Wilson, winner of a silver medal at the Athens Games in gymnastics;

Robert Cullum, rugby player and former NYAC president

The 2007 ceremony will bring to 121 the number of members of the NYAC Hall of Fame, which held its first induction in 1981.

Mara belongs in the Hall of Fame for many reasons, but principally because he was the heart and soul of professional football as it came of age. His name is synonymous with the New York Giants, the team purchased by his father, Tim, in 1925 when Wellington was nine years old. Starting as a ballboy, he progressed quickly to front office decision-making. He became co-owner with his brother Jack in 1930.

In addition to their Athens bronze medals, Moody and Golda won silver medals in Sydney in 2000, prior to the NYAC№s support of women№s water polo. Moody is now Assistant Coach of the U.S. women№s team, with Golda the current star.

Wilson is a three-time Olympic team member and a five-time USA All-Around champion. His silver medal was for the team competition in Athens.

Cullum came to rugby in Japan, becoming a first rate player in that country before returning to the U.S. to play at Penn. He served at the NYAC as governor, Captain, Vice President and President. He was a founder of the NYAC№s rugby program in 1973.

About the New York Athletic Club

A private club founded in 1868, the New York Athletic Club is among the world´s most accomplished sporting institutions, sponsoring world class teams in track and field, rowing, judo, wrestling, fencing and water polo, among others. The NYAC´s headquarters at 59th Street and 7th Avenue in New York City and at Travers Island in Pelham Manor, NY include top class sporting facilities. At the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, the NYAC´s 39 representatives won 11 medals.