Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The great Olympic Weightlifter Humberto Selvetti shows his stuff in his home land of Argentina. It was Selvetti who Paul Anderson defeated to win the Gold Medal at the 1956 Olympic Games. Selvetti and Anderson both totaled 500 kg but Anderson beat him on lighter bodyweight) Selvetti also won a Bronze medal at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki where he totaled 432.5 kg. (I find the barbell set in this picture especially interesting as I have never seen anything like it before or since.)
Labels: 1952 Olympics, 1956 Olympics, Argentinian Weightlifter, Barbell, Barbell Set, Humberto Selvetti, Olympic Lifting, Paul Anderson, Total
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Two-Arm Snatch as demonstrated by Johnny Terpak. At the time that this sequence of photos was taken Terpak was the holder of the middleweight and light heavyweight American records, having snatched 260 lbs. at a bodyweight of only 160 lbs. Terpak was an eleven-time Senior National Weightlifting champion, a record in itself.
Labels: John Terpak, Olympic Lifting, Olympic Weightlifting, Olympic Weightlifting Exercise, Snatch, Two Arm Snatch
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tamio "Tommy" Kono on the cover of the August, 1955 issue of Strength and Health Magazine. A year later he would go on to win the Goldmedal at the 1956 Olympic games in Melbourne, Australia with a 447.5 kg total (140+132.5 + 175).
Labels: 1956 Olympics, Cover, Melbourne Australia, Olympic Lifting, Strength and Health Magazine, Tommy Kono
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Friday, August 08, 2008
Already a strength star in his teens when he won the British national Championships, in 1896, Launceston Elliott traveled to Athens, Greece to represent England at the very first modern Olympic Games. Elliot had been trained by Eugen Sandow and bared quite a resemblance to his mentor, and, as I have mentioned before, things were a bit different back then -- in weightlifting they contested two events: the "one-hand lift" and the "two-hands lift" (i.e. the "clean and jerk.")
In the first contest, the "two hand lift" Launceston tied with Viggo Jensen of Denmark when each lifted 111 kg (244-1/2 pounds). The Gold medal, however, was awarded to the Dane because the judges thought he lifted the weight "in much better form" than his English competitor.
In the one-hand event, Elliot lifted 71 kg to the Dane's 57 and thus Britain's first Olympic Gold Medal winner was crowned!
At those games Elliott also competed in the 100 m dash, wrestling, and rope climbing although he was not as successful in the other events as he was in weight lifting. After his Olympic success, he returned home to England, won the first major physique contest ever held and toured the country as a performing strongman.
Labels: 1896 Olympics, British Strongman, Clean and Jerk, Launceston Elliott, Olympic Games, Olympic Lifting, Olympics, Viggo Jensen, weightlifting
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Friday, August 01, 2008
Doug Hepburn's final lift to win the 1953 Heavyweight World Weightlifting Championship held in Stockholm, Sweden. (defeating John Davis) The lift pictured here was a 363-pound clean and jerk -- the highest of the contest. Doug's other lifts of the day were a 371-pound press and a 297-pound snatch for a total of 1031 pounds.
Labels: 1953 World Championships, Barbell, Canadian Strongman, Clean and Jerk, Doug Hepburn, John Davis, Olympic Lifting, Olympic Weightlifing Exercise, Olympic Weightlifting, Press, Snatch, Sweden, Total
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Welcome to the Strongest Blog on the Net!
This is THE PLACE where you will find interesting bits of Iron Game history, lore and training tips from the strongest men of all time.

Humberto Selvetti
The Two-Arm Snatch
Tommy Kono
Launceston Elliott
Doug Hepburn - 1953 Heavyweight World Champion