Tommy Kono

Tommy Kono

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).

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Tommy Kono

Tommy Kono succeeds in jerking unusual classic barbell at Cayeaux's Paris gym (the same place where Norb Schemansky lifted the Apollon Wheels.) This non-rotating thick-handle barbell weighed 358 pounds and the smaller plates necessitated a longer pull making it quite a challenge. The first two men to clean and jerk this weight were Charles Rigoulot and John Davis.

Tommy Kono

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Paul Anderson "A Wonder of Nature"

Paul Anderson "A Wonder of Nature"
The great Paul Anderson warms up before a weightlifting exhibition at Dynamo Stadium in Russia, circa 1955 (at the height of the Cold War), as Bob Hoffman, Tommy Kono and other members of the York Gang look on.

At the time, the World record in the Olympic press was 330-1/2 pounds, set by the Russian champion, Medvedev. In front of a crowd of 15,000 people on a rainy day, Paul Anderson pressed 402-1/2 pounds.

The Russian crowd gave Anderson a standing ovation and rightfully began calling him "Chudo Prirody," which means "a wonder of nature."

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The York Barbell Broad Street Gym

The York Barbell Broad Street Gym
One of the great training halls was the old York Barbell gym, located on Broad Street on York PA. It was an old factory converted to a gym, with nothing but a couple lifting platforms, a climbing rope, a few old dumbbells and plenty of iron.

It was hot, dark and cramped (just like a great gym should be)and the equipment was old, but solid and it produced an untold number of strength Champions in bodybuilding and Olympic weightlifting.

That's Ike Berger on the platform working on his press while Bob Hoffman, Tommy Kono and others look on.

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Tommy Kono: Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Champion

Tommy Kono: Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Champion
With thirteen Senior Nationals titles, eight consecutive World Championships (1952-1959) and two Olympic gold medals (1952, 1956), Tommy Kono is arguably America's greatest Olympic Weightlifter.

In addition to his weightlifting exploits, he was also a very successful bodybuilder, winning the Mr. Universe bodybuilding title in `1954, 1955, 1957 and 1961.

It is unlikely that the World will never see another champion Weightlifter and Bodybuilder who are one in the same.

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Tommy Kono Jerks Classic Globe Barbell

Tommy Kono and Classic Globe Barbell
Tommy Kono was one of the United States' greatest Olympic weightlifters and overall strength athletes.

He not only won two Gold Medals and a Silver over the course of three Olympic games, he also won the Mr. Universe title in Bodybuilding several times.

I'll cover that in more detail on another occasion.

Check out this classic shot from the early 1950's where Tommy Kono narrowly misses completing a jerk with this huge 374 pound globe barbell at Robert Cayeaux's gym in Lille, France. -- Kono had the barbell at arm's length but couldn't quite hold it.

(N.B. This was the same gym where Norb Schemansky lifted the famous Apollon Wheels in 1954.)

...I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that Charles Rigoulot lifted with the very same globe barbell. - Rigoulot favored globe barbells long after they went out of style.

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