Career
Of Serbian ancestry, Jim Trifunov began his career as a newsboy in Regina, later he took up wrestling at his local Young Men’s Christian Association in 1922. His successes sent him to three editions of the Olympics Games, the most notable of which was in 1928, when he captured a bronze medal by overcoming Harold Sansum of Great Britain in the match for the bronze medal. He retired from active competition following the 1932 Olympics and resumed his career with Regina"s Leader-Post.
In 1936 he was sent by the Sifton Publishing Company from Regina to Winnipeg to work with the city’s Winnipeg Free Press, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
While there he took up coaching and sports administration, eventually serving as president of the Manitoba Wrestling Association for a quarter of a century. He also held executive roles in the Canadian Amateur and Manitoba Wrestling Associations and was coach and manager of Canada’s wrestling delegations to the 1952, 1956, and 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as every edition of the British Empire Games between 1954 and 1970.
Also, he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1981. His voluntary activities have included school-crossing patrols, which have spread across the continent.
Certificates and