Henry Wittenberg (September 18, 1918 – March 9, 2010) was an American New York police officer, coach, competitor and Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling.

At Jersey City's William L. Dickinson High School, he remarkably did not partake in wrestling, the sport in which he would excel in college and later life, but swam and played chess.

[4] As a student at City College of New York he did not consider himself athletic, but the wrestling coach Joe Sapora introduced him to the sport and he took to it quickly.

[3][2][4] With World War II canceling the Olympics in the early 1940s, Wittenberg served in the military, working as a hand-to-hand combat instructor in the Army.

Unlike many wrestlers of his era, he effectively used weight-lifting to increase his strength during his career, though it was counter to the advice of many coaches.

In the twelve years between 1938 and 1952, he entered eight National AAU freestyle tournaments and won eight non-consecutive championships, representing the West Side YMCA of New York and later the Police Sports Association.

In the first Israeli Maccabiah games in 1950 and again in 1953, he won gold medals in the freestyle heavyweight class and subsequently retired in 1953.

He again reached the final match, though he lost to Swede Wiking Palm, receiving the silver medal rather than the gold and breaking a long winning streak.

Shortly after completing his education, around 1941 he became an officer in the New York City Police Department, winning five commendations for bravery while on the force.