1952 Olympic Games Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Schemansky Stalks The Bar…

Posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 by John Wood

From the late 1940’s to mid-1960’s, Norb Schemansky was America’s most successful Olympic Weightlifter and the first weightlifter to medal in four Olympic Games, (despite missing the 1956 games.)

Do you think he means business in the shot above? That’s from the 1964 Olympic tryouts. Here’s a look at Norb Schemansky’s achievements over the course of his amazing career:

Olympic Champion – 1952 Olympic Games, Helsinki
Silver Medal – 1948 Olympic Games, London
Bronze Medal – 1960, Rome, 1964, Tokyo
World Champion (1951, 1953, and 1954)
1955 Pan American Games Heavyweight Champion
Silver Medal – Senior World Championships (1947, 1962, 1963)
Bronze Medal – Senior World Championships (1964)

And best career marks:

Press – 415 lbs.
Snatch – 363 3/4 lbs.
Clean and Jerk – 445 lbs.
Total – 1200 lbs. (400-335-445)

In addition to his weightlifting exploits, Norb also famously cleaned, then thrice jerked the Apollon Wheels.

Humberto Selvetti on ‘El Grafico’

Posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015 by John Wood

Here’s a rare look at the great Argentinian weightlifter Humberto Selvetti on the cover of the February, 1952 issue of ‘El Grafico’ magazine (also published in Argentina.). A few months later, Selvetti would win the Super-heavyweight bronze medal at the Helsinki Olympics with a 432.5kg total.

Henry Wittenberg

Posted on Saturday, November 30th, 2013 by John Wood

Jersey City, New Jersey born Henry Wittenberg was one of the greatest wrestlers who ever lived. Unbelievably, he never even wrestled until he got to college but by his junior year, he was doing very well in many prestigious tournaments.

After college, he entered eight AAU tournaments – and won all of them. In an era where many people inflate their numbers, Wittenberg legitimately won over 300 straight matches. He won a Gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics and came back to win Silver in 1952 at Helsinki. He doesn’t have any World Championships to his credit because his employer, The New York Police Department, would not allow him the time off.

One of the notable things about Wittenberg is that he was one of the few athletes at the time who actively lifted weights. His coaches at the time forbade him to do so, but Wittenberg understood how important it was and would not hear of it. They gave in and allowed him to keep lifting weights so as long as he didn’t let it be known.

Later on, he wrote this book on Isometrics which has gone through five printings.