Czechoslovakia 1,452.5 – Soviet Union 1,852.5 (1946)

This was not a day long basketball marathon game or some hockey rivalry classics game without goalies. It is a final score in kilos of the weightlifting meet between Team USSR and Team Czechoslovakia in March 1946.

History in Color:
March 4, 1946, Prague, Czechoslovak Republic – Soviet athletes at the introduction of Czechoslovakia vs USSR international weightlifting match held the CAK Kralovske Vynohrady club in Prague (left to right):

Heavyweight Yakov Kutsenko, lightweight Mamiya Zhgenty, middleweight Nikolay Shatov, light heavyweight Grigory Novak, featherweight George Popov.

It was a historical event for the Soviet athletes, the first ever international meet for Team USSR after the end of WWII.

The weightlifting hall in Prague had a full house and the guest team USSR won vs Team Czechoslovakia 1,852.5 – 1,452.5 kg. Soviet light heavyweight Grigory Novak managed to break 4 world records in 82.5kg class – 133.5kg press, 127.5kg snatch, 163.5kg clean-and  and 420kg total. However, those results didn’t become official world records because the Soviet Union wasn’t a member of the International Weightlifting Federation at the time of the meet. They joined the Federation later in the year, before the beginning of the 1946 World Championships in Paris in October 1946.

After the first match in Prague, the teams also had meets in Plzen, Prostejov, Bratislava, Zlín, Ostrava and Prague.

The following are the results of the 1st match in Prague:

• 60kg
  Popov, USSR –  317.5 (85+103.5+130)
  Vavricka, CSR – 257.5 (82.5+75+100)
• 67.5kg
  Zhgenty, USSR – 340 (100+105+135)
  Kopejsko, CSR – 252.5 (72.5+80+100)
• 75kg
  Shatov, USSR – 355 (105+110+140)
  Hantych, CSR – 315 (80+100+135)
• 82.5kg
  Novak, USSR – 420 (133.5+127.5+160),
  Poula, CSR – 277.5 (82.5+85+110)
• 82.5kg+
  Kutsenko, USSR – 417.5 (125+127.5+165)
  Becvar, CSR – 350 (105+100+145).