Close-Up: Norbert Schemansky (USA)

History in Color:
September 22, 1962, Budapest, Hungary – Olympic weightlifting legend, Olympic champion, 4x Olympian and 4x Olympic medalist, Norbert “Norb” Schemansky of Detroit, Michigan, USA competes in the 90+kg weight class at the 1962 World Championships in Budapest.

At the time of the tournament was held in Budapest, Schemansky was 38. He won his last gold medal at the World Championships in 1954 and was very close to win his 4th World title in Budapest. Norb won the press and the snatch lifts and, prior to the clean-and-jerk, he was 10kg ahead of another weightlifting legend, Yury Vlasov of Team USSR.

By the end of the night, Vlasov managed to bypass Schemansky in total only after lifting 207.5kg in his second attempt in clean-and-jerk. The winning lift was done with a distinct double dip in the jerk part and remains one of the controversial moments in the history of this sport.

Vlasov won the World title with a 540kg(177.5+155+207.5) total. Schemansky won the silver with 537.5kg (182.5+160+195) in total.