Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Tommy Kono ~ 350 lb. PressA look at the great Tommy Kono pressing 350 lbs. - a World record. Tommy's bodyweight was only 183 lbs. at the time.
Labels: Overhead Press, Press., Tommy Kono, World Record
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Monday, August 10, 2009
Tommy Kono: '59 WorldsTommy Kono's winning clean & jerk at the 1959 World Weightlifting Championships held in Warsaw, Poland. Tommy totaled 425 kg that day (132.5 + 130 + 162.5) in the middleweight class. This one marked his 6th World Championship win.
Labels: 1959 World Championships, Barbell, Clean and Jerk, Olympic Weightlifting, Poland, Tommy Kono, World Champion
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Saturday, July 11, 2009
Bringing Home the Gold: Melbourne 1956The date of this photo is November 26th, 1956 and it shows the results of the Men's Light-Heavyweight weightlifting event at the '56 Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Australia. On his way to the Gold Medal, Tommy Kono set Olympic records in the Press and Snatch and a World Record in the Clean & Jerk and overall total (447.5 kg).
The other American lifter Jim George, from Akron, Ohio, won the Bronze with a 417.5 kg total. Vasīlijs Stepanovs of the Soviet Union took the Silver Medal with a 427.5 total.
Labels: 100 Pound Total, 1956 Olympics, Clean and Jerk, Gold Medal, Jim George, Melbourne Australia, Olympic Record, Olympic Weightlifting, Press, Snatch, Tommy Kono, Vasīlijs Stepanovs, World Record
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Thursday, March 05, 2009
Ed YarickWe have featured his gym, his equipment, even his wife... the only thing missing is the man himself, so here he is: Ed Yarick.
In addition to running one of the most popular gyms in the land, the 6'4" Yarick won the tall class in the "Mr. Pacific Coast" bodybuilding contest and was also the coach of the 1952 National Jr. Weightlifting Team.
Yarick's Gym was located at 3355 Foothill Blvd. in Oakland, California and was one of the centers of the strength world on the West coast. It was also where Steve reeves got his start and the training headquarters at various times of Roy Hilligenn, John Davis, Clancy Ross, Jack Delinger, Tommy Kono and Doug Hepburn (among others)
Labels: Clancy Ross, Doug Hepburn, Ed Yarick, Ed Yarick's Gym, Jack Dellinger, John Davis, Roy Hilligenn, Steve Reeves, Tommy Kono
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Classic Globe BarbellI'm convinced, but thought I would put these pictures side-by-side so you can decide for yourself. I believe this is the very same globe barbell in action. On the left, the great French weightlifter Ernest Cadine circa 1920. On the right, the great American lifter and Gold medalist Tommy Kono, circa 1954.
Labels: Ernest Cadine, Globe Barbell, Oldtime Strength Equipment, Tommy Kono
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Friday, February 13, 2009
A Meeting of The LegendsWhen you trained at York Barbell, you never knew who might stop by for a visit. On this particular day, 2x Gold Medal Winner and 4x Mr. Universe winner Tommy Kono, Mr. America, Mr. Universe and first man to crack the 1000 pound barrier Steve Stanko, "Mr. Weightlifting" Norb Schemansky and The Mighty Atom, Joe Greenstein got together for a session. That's a lot of history in one place at one time!
Labels: 1940 Mr. America Contest, Mr. Universe, Mr. Weightlifting, Norb Schemansky, Steve Stanko, The MIghty Atom, Tommy Kono, York Barbell Club
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tommy Kono - Nail DrivingThe number of strength stars who also practiced Nail Driving is quite extensive. Among them famous weightlifter and sometimes bodybuilder Tommy Kono, shown here performing strength feats at the 1960 Jr. Nationals Weightlifting contest held in his home town of Sacramento, California.
Labels: Feats of Strength, Jr. Nationals, Nail Driving, Tommy Kono
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Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Ernest Cadine Lifts Some Classic IronAn extremely rare shot of the great French Weightlifter Ernest Cadine deadlifting a classic globe barbell. Is this the same globe barbell that Tommy Kono lifted here? It's certainly possible.
Labels: Deadlift, Ernest Cadine, French Strongman, French Weightlifter, Globe Barbell, Globe Dumbbells, Tommy Kono
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Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tommy KonoTamio "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
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
| 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 |
Labels: Charles Rigoulot, Classic Gym, Clean and Jerk, Famous Barbell, Jerk, John Davis, Thick Handle, Tommy Kono
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Friday, March 21, 2008
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."
Labels: Bob Hoffman, Dynamo Stadium, Medvedev, Olympic Weightlifting, Paul Anderson, Press, Russia, Tommy Kono
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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, February 15, 2008
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.
Labels: Bob Hoffman, Broad Street Gym, Classic Gym, Classic Strongman Gyms, Ike Berger, Olympic Weightlifting, Tommy Kono, York Barbell Company
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Sunday, November 11, 2007
Tommy Kono: Weightlifting and Bodybuilding ChampionWith 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.
Labels: Bodybuilding, Gold Medal, Olympic Weightlifting, Tommy Kono, weightlifting
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Monday, October 15, 2007
Tommy Kono and Classic Globe BarbellTommy 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.
Labels: Bodybuilding, Charles Rigoulot, Classic Strongman Gyms, Globe Barbell, Gold Medal, Mr. Universe, Olympic Weightlifting, Olympics, Tommy Kono
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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