Olympic Weightlifting History Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Svend Olsen

Posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2018 by John Wood

Here’s a rare shot of the Danish weightlifter Svend Olsen lifting in the light-heavyweight class at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Svend finished with the Silver medal after posting a 360 kg total (102.5 kg Press, 107.5 kg Snatch, 150 kg. Clean and Jerk).

This lift appears to be Olsen’s third Snatch attempt of 112.5 kg (which was not passed.) Olsen briefly held two official and one unofficial world records but retired shortly afterwards to become a strongman at the Circus Meihe.

1957 Middleweight World Weightlifting Champions

Posted on Thursday, November 2nd, 2017 by John Wood

A rare shot at the winner’s stand of the Middleweight class (75kg) at the 1957 World Weightlifting Championships (held in Tehran, Iran from November 8 to November 12, 1957.) Tommy Kono and Soviet lifter Fyodor Bogdanovsky both had an identical 420 kg. total but Kono took the Gold on lighter bodyweight. It must have stung too, it was the only Silver medal for the the Soviet team, they took the Gold in every other weight class. Polish lifter Jan Bochenek got the Bronze with a 395 kg total.

Alberto Pigaiani

Posted on Monday, September 18th, 2017 by John Wood

Alberto Pigaiani was an Italian heavyweight weightlifter who competed in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and 1960 Olympic games in Rome, finishing in third (452.5 kg total) and seventh place(450 kg total), respectively. Here he is on his way to a Bronze medal finish at the 1960 European Weightlifting Championships in Milan, Italy with a 374 lb. jerk .

1938 World Weightlifting Championships – Heavyweight Winners

Posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 by John Wood

A rare shot of the lineup of heavyweight winners at the 1938 World Weightlifting Championships held in Vienna (Which was then a part of Germany.) From left to right Josef Manger of Germany (410 kg. total), Steve Stanko of the United States (397.5 kg. total) and Arnold Luhaar of Estonia (390 kg. total).

Tom Tyler

Posted on Sunday, November 16th, 2014 by John Wood

Tom Tyler, late of Hollywood, California, was the 1928 AAU Heavyweight lifting champion and first American to clean & jerk 300 pounds in an AAU competition. Here’s a rare shot of Tyler at the 1928 Olympic weightlifting tryouts. Believe it or not, this is that Tom Tyler, western movie star and of Captain Marvel fame.

1948 Olympic Heavyweights

Posted on Friday, September 26th, 2014 by John Wood

A look at the medal stand for the heavyweight class at the 1948 London Olympic Games: John Davis of the USA took the Gold Medal with a 452.5 kg. total while his team mate, Norb Schemansky won the Silver medal with a 425 kg. total. The Bronze Medal winner was Abraham Charité of the Netherlands, who totaled 412.5 kg.

Isaac “Ike” Berger

Posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2014 by John Wood

Ike Berger is one of America’s most successful Olympic Weightlifters — he was the first featherweight in history to lift more than 800 pounds and the first to press double body weight.

Over Ike’s career he was the owner of 23 world weightlifting records, a 12-time United States national titleholder, 2-time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist at the 1956 Games in Melbourne Australia (along with two more Silver medals at the next two Olympic Games.)

At the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games, he established a record of 152.5 kg (336-1/2 lbs.) in the jerk, at a bodyweight of only 130 pounds (59 kg). This lift bettered the world record by 11 lbs., and made Ike pound-for-pound the strongest man in the world, a record that stood for nine years.

Ike Berger was elected to the United States Weightlifter’s Hall of Fame in 1965.

1928 Milo Barbell Advertisement, Featuring Al Manger

Posted on Friday, June 13th, 2014 by John Wood

1928 Milo Barbell Advertisement, Featuring Al Manger

Here’s an interesting one: this 1928 Milo Barbell advertisement features Mr. Al Manger, who built himself up from “a bag of bones” into a weightlifting champion with the power of sensible physical training and a Milo weight set. At the age of 21, Manger weighed only 97 pounds, and within a year of barbell training, had added 26 pounds of solid muscle.

Manger kept at it, and went on to win three national lifting championships, one in the 181 lb. class in 1929 and two light-heavyweight crowns in 1930 and 1932. Manger finished fifth with a 315 kg. total at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic games. Manger also won regional championships in the shot put and weight throwing.

…Pretty good for a skinny kid from Baltimore.

If you would like to learn about the specific types of training that helped Manger build his strength, you’ll find it in The Alan Calvert Collection.

The 1932 Olympic Weightlifting Lightweight Class

Posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2014 by John Wood

A look at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic games weightlifting Lightweight Class. From right to left (also in order of final standings): Raymond Suvigny of France (287.5 kg. total, also an Olympic record), Hans Wolpert of Germany (282.5 kg. total), Tony Terlazzo of the United States (280 kg. total), Helmut Schafer of Germany (267.5 kg total), Attilia Bescape of Italy (262.5 kg. total) and Richard Bachtell of the United States (252.5 kg. total).

Novak’s World Record Press

Posted on Friday, May 9th, 2014 by John Wood

A look at the great soviet weightlifter Grigori Novak’s World Record standing press of 315 pounds (at 5’3″ and a bodyweight of only 181 pounds!) This would have been in 1949 in a meet in Moscow. Novak’s career was marred by an elbow injury which necessitated an operation – you can tell his left arm is a bit “off” here.