1936 Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Harold Musselman

Posted on Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 by John Wood

Harold Musselman (which is an utterly fantastic name for a weightlifter), of the Baltimore YMCA, is shown here in January of 1936, smashing his own South Atlantic record in the snatch in the 165 lb class with a lift of 205 pounds. In the same meet, Musselman also set a new South Atlantic record in the Clean & Jerk with a lift of 265 pounds (bettering the old record of 260 pounds).

The German Wheel

Posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2018 by John Wood

Here’s a lost piece of training equipment that you sure don’t see every day the German Wheel. Also known as a Gym Wheel or a “Rhönrad”, Otto Feik, a metal worker from Germany devised this unique device in 1925 as a means of building full-body strength and stamina (while also having a good time doing so!)

It consists of a giant metal frame, about seven feet in diameter, with straps for the feet and overhead “rungs” which are gripped with the hands during use. A user then controls the movement of the wheel with body power – they say it’s a great “core” workout.

In 1936, at the Berlin Olympics, there was an exhibition of “Wheel Gymnastics” which spread the popularity of the Gym Wheel to other countries. Today the German Wheel” is virtually unknown in the U.S. but there have been contests and even world Championships going on in Europe and Japan for decades.

The Wrestler’s Bridge

Posted on Friday, December 11th, 2015 by John Wood

THIS is why wrestlers practice bridging ~ a strong neck may just be the only thing keeping the shoulders off the mat. This outstanding example of bridging occurred at the 1936 Berlin Olympics Greco-Roman wrestling event. The fellow doing the bridging is Germany’s Kurt Hornfischer (who won the Bronze medal) while Estonia’s Kristjan Palusalu is up top going for the pin. (Palusalu quite impressively took the Heavyweight gold in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling events in Berlin.)

Basil Korolev

Posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2015 by John Wood

Basil Korolev was Russian by birth but left his native land in 1919 at the start of the revolution. He settled in Japan were he was undefeated in Judo and boxing contests and held the heavyweight title in both sports until his retirement in 1936. Here is Basil at a strength demonstration curling a pair of 80-pound kettlebells with only his little fingers.

Ron Walker

Posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2014 by John Wood

Ron Walker

Shown here is the great British weightlifter Ron Walker, who lifted in the heavyweight class although he never weighed much more than 195 pounds. Over the course of his career, Walker set 21 British lifting records, many of which still stand!

A few of these records include:

Right Hand Snatch: 91kg, set August 6, 1933
Left Hand Snatch: 92kg , set August 24, 1937
Right Hand Dumbbell Swing: 86½kg, set January 25, 1937
Left Hand Dumbbell Swing: 77½kg, set September 13, 1934

The 1936 U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team

Posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2014 by John Wood

The 1936 US Olympic Weightlifting Team

A look at the U.S. weightlifting team, taken in the Olympic village in Berlin, Germany during the 1936 Olympics. From left to right: Mark Berry, Dave Mayor, Bill Good, John Grimek, Stan Kratkowski, Joe Miller, John Terpak, Walter Good, Bob Mitchell, Tony Terlazzo, John Terry and Dietrich Wortmann. Terlazzo won the Featherweight class with a 312.5 kg total to become America’s first ever weightlifting gold medal winner.