History of Olympic Weightlifting
The Lift Up project is brought to you by chidlovski.com.
I remember reading a letter sent to Doug Hepburn by a then young unknown Paul Anderson asking Doug to help him with his training. This started a series of letters between Paul and Doug. I also recall when Doug came back from winning the World Championship he mentioned the Russians had offered him a job coaching their lifters on strength training. The 'cold war' was on and he quickly refused the offer.
Hepburn's legacy is that he developed the system which is the basis of strength training today (sans drugs). For that he should surely be in
Lift Up's 'Hall of Fame'.
Ray Beck
Hi Anton, the results I have show 207.5 + 262.5 = 470. It is based on the latest FTAR Spravochnik. Perhaps the 265.5 cj lift was the 4th attempt for a WR. It is not supposed to be added to the total. The total of 472.5 (WR total) was officially set by Kurlovich in Ostrava in 1987.
Arthur, there seems to be an error in 1987 ussr championship total for Taranenko. His winning cj was 265.5 and the total 472.5
Light heavyweight was always called 'srednij' and modern middleweight was called 'polu-srednij' by the Russians. I apologize for the confusion. Still (in my view) Zlatev's c/j of 225kg stands beyond compare in that weight category. He also should get some recognition for the beauty of his technique.
Does anybody know where is he now? Training? Lifting? It would be good to add to this remarkable site some info about the current whereabouts and occupations of the Heros of the Past. To: Arkadij - heartful thanks for the fantastic work you are doing.
To ALEXANDER PECHENIK: You absolutely right that Asen Zlatev was an outstanding athlete and he certainly is listed in the Top Lifters. Please note that 183/225 are the results shown not in the middleweight but in the light heavyweight (82.5 kg). Besides Zlatev, there were other fantastic lifters in the middleweight - Yanko Rusev, Alexander Varbanov, Mincho Pashev, Pablo Lara.
I really cannot beleive that Asen Zlatev is not among the best-of-the-best. He, in my view, was by far the best middleweight of all times. With 183/225 to his credit and an Olympic gold medal - not enough? His technique of lifting, both in snatch and c/j was beyond compare - it was more akin to ballet - grace and strength amalgamed together. I really think you must include him with the best.
GREAT SITE! I GREW UP FOLLOWING THE GREATS IN THE 70'S. THANKS!
First, I LOVE this site. Keep up this great work. Anyone who has been following Olympic lifting for very long can relive great memories by checking out this site. I believe I have found a mistake in one of your Clip-o-rama captions. The world record clip of Pablo Lara is really Aranda, the lifter who succeeded him in that same weight class. It's right on the scoreboard in the picture. I still love the clip and all the information and interviews. Thanks.
Unfortunately, Mr. Wasserman passed away in 2006. He was a really classy person, brilliant researcher of the Iron Game and a true gentleman. I miss him alot. He donated his Iron Master magazines collection to the Lift Up and I periodically grab bits and pieces from there. I can't really re-publish the whole collection because of the copyright issues.
Mr.Wasserman,.......(message dated 5/11/05)
If you have not given away your precious collection of Iron Master magazines, please give it to me. I will keep it all my life, with my collection, and pass it on to my sons who love Weightlifting.It will stay in our family forever. Thanks a million.
Surrinder Dhah