Team USA Weightlifting in Berlin (1936)
Today’s History in Color cover features the group photo of the 1936 U.S. Olympic weightlifting team taken in the Olympic Village at Elstal in Wustermark (Berlin, Germany)
Left to right*:
Mark Berry (Head Coach), Dave Mayor (Heavyweight, 12th), Bill Good (Light Heavyweight, 7th), John Grimek (Heavyweight, 9th), Stanley Kratkowski (Middleweight, 5th), Joe Miller (Light Heavyweight, 9th), John Terpak (Lightweight, 5th), Walter Good (Middleweight, 14th), Bob Mitchell (Lightweight, 8th), Tony Terlazzo (Featherweight, 1st/Gold), John Terry (Featherweight, 7th) and Dietrich Wortmann (AAU Weightlifting Committee, Chairman).
Note: Including athletes’ weight class and final placings at the 1936 Summer Olympics tournament.
Obviously, the heroic performance of Jesse Owens in Berlin was one of the greatest moments of the Olympics in Berlin and in the history of sports overall. Other U.S. athletes demonstrated superb results in 1936 too.
One of them was a weightlifter Tony Terlazzo who became the first 1936 Olympic champion in weightlifting in Berlin. Terlazzo won with the 312.5kg total in the 60kg class.
The weightlifting contests took place in the Deutschlandhalle in front of over 8,000 fans. Team USA was just beginning its path to success in weightlifting and gold medal won by Tony Terlazzo was a huge boost for upcoming development of world class athletes.
Overall, in the unofficial team competition between the weightlifting countries, Team USA took the third place with Egypt as No.1 and Germany as No.2.
After the tournament, the International Weightlifting Federation published the Top 5 Best athletes list.
Khadr El Touni of Egypt was announced as top lifter .
25-year old Tony Terlazzo of Team USA became an overall No. 2 in the World!
Weight | Class | Name | Total (kg) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
60 | Featherweight | Anthony TERLAZZO, United States | 92.5EOR+97.50R+122 = 312.5WR | |
67.5 | Lightweight | Robert FEIN, Austria | 105OR+100+137.5 = 342.5WR | |
75 | Middleweight | Khadr Sayed EL TOUNI, Egypt | 117.5WR+120WR+150OR = 387.5WR | |
82.5 | Light Heavyweight | Louis HOSTIN, France | 110OR+117.5OR+145 = 372.5OR | |
82.5+ | Super Heavyweight | Josef MANGER, Germany | 132.5OR+122.5+155 = 410WR |
Note: To view a complete list of the winners in the weight classes above,
please follow the link associated with the weight class.