pütsep took up wrestling during world war i and in 1917 placed third at the russian championships. at his first international competition, the 1920 olympics, he lost in a semifinal to the eventual silver medalist heikki kähkönen. next year he finished fourth at the world championships, and in 1922 won a silver medal. he retired from competitions in 1933 and attended the 1936 summer olympics as the head coach of the latvian wrestling team. during world war ii he moved to finland and continued to coach wrestlers there. since 1977 an annual international wrestling tournament in his honor has been held in võru, estonia.