Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Demetrius TofalosDemetrius Tofalos was a Greek weightlifter who survived a serious childhood injury and went on to defeat Josef Steinbach to win the Gold Medal at the 1906 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The winning lift for Tofalos in the "two-hand barbell lift" (i.e. clean and jerk) was 142.4 Kilograms.
It really was a "clean" and jerk - lifters were penalized if the barbell touched any other part of their body as they brough it to their chest..
Tofalos was also a very successful professional wrestler although a defeat and injury by American Champion Frank Gotch forced his retirement. Tofalos eventually went on to manage Jim Londos, "The Golden Greek."
Today, a sports arena is named in Tofalos' honor in his hometown of Patras, Greece.
Labels: 1906 Olympics, British Wrestler, Clean and Jerk, Demetrius Tofalos, Gold Medal, Greek Weightlifter, Jim Londos, Joseph Steinbach, Olympic Sport
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