Go USA Weightlifting Marathon: John Grimek of York Barbell
The 2017 IWF World Championships tournament is scheduled to be held in Anaheim, USA from November 27, 2017 t0 December 5, 2017. The Lift Up and our sub-publications continue the Go USA Weightlifting Marathon superseries of historical articles to cheer up the Team USA ang all the fans of the Iron Game who certainly will be following one of the key Olympic weightlifting events of the year.
The photo from our History in Cover series features legendary U.S. bodybuilder and Olympic weightlifter John Grimek (1910-1998) performing Olympic weightlifting routines in front of the audience back in his prime.
John Grimek trained with the York Barbell Club and was one of the “usual suspects” in Bob Hoffman’s empire of strength headquartered in York. PA.
Grimek’s look and feel on the magazine’s photos and competitions, in many ways, helped Bob Hoffman’s enterprise to propel to the very top of American strength-related market.
He was a definite “poster boy” of men’s strength and physique as his photos were published on the covers of the “Strength and Health” and all major weightlifting publications of the time.
Obviously, for many fans, Grimek is known as an impressive bodybuilder featured on the covers of literally all magazines of the strength and bodybuilding magazines. As a bodybuilder, he won the AAU Mr. America (1940, 1941), Mr. Universe (1948) and Mr. USA (1949), In bodybuilding world, Grimek earned such nicknames as “The Glow” and “The Monarch of Muscledom”.
However, Grimek won was successful both in bodybuilding and Olympic weightlifting contests and tournaments of his time.
As an Olympic weightlifter, John Grimek competed for the Team USA at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He won the 9th place with the 357.5kg total (115+105+137.5), Grimek won the U.S. national championship in 1936, vice-championship in 1935 and a bronze medal in 1940.