Wesley Oler

{{Short description|American baseball player (1891–1980)}} {{Infobox sportsperson |birth_name=Wesley Marion Oler, Jr. |birth_date={{Birth date|1891|12|15}} |birth_place=Baltimore, Maryland, USA |death_date={{Death date and age|1980|04|05|1891|12|15}} |death_place=Alexandria, Virginia, USA |alma_mater=Yale University |sport=Track and field, baseball }}

'''Wesley Marion Oler, Jr.''' (December 15, 1891 – April 5, 1980) was an American baseball player and track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78861 |title=Wesley Oler |work=Olympedia |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref>

== Biography == Oler was born in Baltimore, Maryland and died in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1912, he finished 13th in the high jump competition. He also competed in the exhibition baseball tournament in Stockholm. It was the first appearance of baseball at the Olympics, and Oler was one of four Americans who played for the Swedish team.

Oler won the British AAA Championships title in the high jump event at the 1914 AAA Championships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000711/19140704/056/0002 |title=Amateur Athletics |work=Lancashire Evening Post |date=4 July 1914 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=17 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000206/19140706/016/0003 |title=Applegarth's Feats |work=Manchester Courier |date=6 July 1914 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=17 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=17 November 2024 }}</ref>

While a student-athlete at Yale University, he was initiated into the 1916 class of the Skull and Bones Society.<ref name="Yale1916">{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofclassof1916yale | title=History of the Class of 1916 | publisher=Yale University | year=1916 | accessdate=April 24, 2011}}</ref>{{rp|171–2}}

After working at a brokerage, he joined General Motors in 1939 and retired as Director of Public Relations in 1956.<ref>{{cite news | title=Wesley Oler Jr., G.M. Executive; On Olympic Track Team in 1912 | work=New York Times | date=Apr 8, 1980 }}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418050648/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ol/wesley-oler-1.html Sports Reference profile] *{{sports links}}

{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's high jump}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oler, Wesley}} Category:1890s births Category:1980 deaths Category:American men high jumpers Category:Baseball players from Baltimore Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Category:Olympic baseball players for the United States Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Category:Baseball players at the 1912 Summer Olympics Category:Yale Bulldogs men's track and field athletes Category:General Motors executives Category:20th-century American sportsmen