Ota Zaremba: Future Weightlifting Superstar of Czechoslovakia
Our History in Color series features a color version of the photo of a young and promising Czech weightlifter Ota Zaremba quiet a few years before his phenomenal success in the late 1970s.
In 1980, Ota Zaremba won his gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Moscow in the 100kg weight class that seemed to be created for the Soviets. At the time, Team USSR had about two dozens atheletes who could have potentially won any international contest in this class. However, it was Ota Zaremba from Czechoslovakia who won the sub heavyweight class in Moscow.
Ota Zaremba (b. 1957) is one of the most successful Czech weightlifters of all times. The were three Olympic champions in the history of Czechoslovakian weightlifting. Heavyweight Jaroslav Skobla won the title in Los Angeles in 1932. Middleweight Hans Zdrazila won a gold medal in Tokyo in 1964. Finally, Ota Zaremba became an Olympic champion in 1980.
Zaremba lifted for the national team of his country for 10 years – from 1977 to 1987. Besides being an Olympic champion, Zaremba ia World champion (1980), 5x national champion of Czechoslovakia (1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985) and a holder of 3 world records (two snatch and one total)
For his heroics at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Ota Zaremba received the Best Athlete of Czechoslovakia in 1980.