Posts about weightlifting history
When I first started competing in Olympic Weightlifting in 1981, I wanted to learn about the sport’s history and the men who made it great. I read all the lifting magazines I could find, and one of the first lifters I read about was John Davis. Davis’ weightlifting career spanned from 1937 to 1956, and … Read more
One of my favorite weightlifters to watch was Stefan Botev. Botev was born on Feb.14, 1968, in Harmanli, Bulgaria, and was coached by the legendary Ivan Abadzhiev. Stefan stood 5′ 11 (180 centimeters) and competed in the 110 kilo/242 lbs weight class. Later in his career, he moved up to the Superheavyweight class but was … Read more
Before you get started with this article, you may want to read the first part, My Olympic Weightlifting Career. This is a continuation of my lifting career. For the next 22 years, I continued weightlifting. I could never match the heavy weights I had lifted in the past, and I had to make a lot … Read more
The first time I witnessed Weightlifting was on the television show “Wide World of Sports.” This show aired on ABC from 1961 to 1998. I can’t recall the exact year, but it was sometime during the early 1970s that I watched Vasily Alexeyev break another world record in the clean & jerk. Alexeev was a … Read more
When I first started Olympic Weightlifting in 1981, at nineteen years old, Tim was one of the first to help me. Tim had about three years of competitive weightlifting experience and was roughly three and a half years older than me. To say he was tough on me would be an understatement. Since I had … Read more