Kaarlo Kangasniemi

:: 10/25/2012: Marina Kangasniemi, Pori , Finland
Каарло Кангасниеми живет в Финляндии в городе Пори. До сих пор сильный, с большим чувством юмора человек, дружелюбный, общительный. Он тренирует подростающее поколение в местном клубе. Жена Марина

:: 5/11/2010: Steve Wanvig, Burnsville MN, USA
I fondly recall the first time I saw a photo of, or had even heard of, Kaarlo Kangasniemi. Sports Illustrated has always had a pre-Olympics guide, and in the issue just prior to the '68 Summer Games in Mexico City, they had a full-page color shot of Kaarlo clad in his lifting suit, outside, looking very strong, holding his tow-headed children overhead. Of course, the magazine picked him, over all the other great lifters in the world, to depict in their pages. This alone was pretty amazing, with Olympic lifting being a pretty minor sport in the US at the time (is it any more prominent now, 40 years on??). Sure enough Kaarlo won gold in the midheavies, beating Russian (Estonia) titan Jan Talts, Poland's Marek Golub, England's Louis Martin, Hungary's Arpad Nemessanyi, Sweden's Hans Bettembourg, and a host of others. What was so cool about KK was that he was from Finland, was great enough to set world records in all three lifts plus total, and he could beat the best Russia had to offer. Let's raise a glass to one of the all-time greats.....God bless you, KK!

:: 3/11/2008: ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ, MIAMI FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
WE WHO KAARLO LIFT AT THE MUNICH GAMES HAD A LOT OF FUN WATCHING. HE WAS IN GREAT SHAPE A YEAR BEFORE THE GAME BUT THEN HE WAS INJURED. WE KNEW ABOUT HIS INJURY AND THAT HE WAS NOT IN THE BEST OF SHAPE BUT HE LIFTED VERY WELL IN SPITE OF THAT. HE WAS VERY GRACIOUS AND FUN TO WATCH. HE ENDED THE COMPETION BY COMPLETING HIS LAST CLEAN AND JERK AND THEN STAND ON ONE LEG TWICE, FIRST WITH THE RIGHT LEG AND PLACING HIS LEFT FOOT BEHIND THE RIGHT KNEE AND THEN DOING THE SAME MANEUVER WITH THE LEFT LEG WHILE HOLDING THE WEIGHT OVERHEAD BEFORE LOWINGTHE WEIGHT TO THE PLATFORM. OF COURSE HE DID THIS ONLY AFTER THE JUDGE GAME HIM THE SIGNAL TO LOWER THE BAR. WE ALL HAD A GOOD LAUGH AND APPLAUDED. THIS SHOWS A GREAT SPIRIT AND HE COMPETED EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW HE COULD NOT WIN. HE PLACED 6TH IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY. IT WAS AN HONOR TO WAT HIM LIFT AND IT WAXS A PITY HE DID NOT HAVE MORE TIME TO RECOVER FROM THE INJURY BEFORE THE OLYMPICS. HE STILL LOOKED IN GREAT SHAPE EVEN WHEN NOT AT HIS ABSOLUTE BEST.

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