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Fein: Olympic Champion tying for the first place

One hundred and nine years ago on 9th December 1907, Robert Fein, the Austrian weightlifter was born, who became lightweight Gold medallist at the Berlin Olympic Games 1936 in an unprecedented tie for the first place. Fein got as far as 342,5 kg in total, the best in the competition, but Egyptian Anwar Mesbah performed the same result. As it happened, two winners were celebrated in the category of 67,5 kg. Fein was born in Vienna and died in the same city in on 2nd January 1975. After his Berlin victory,  in 1937 Fein received his „Second Gold Medal” when one of the highest Austrian State distinctions, The Gold Medal for Service to the Republic of Austria was conferred upon

Rio 2016, the most perfect imperfect Games

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games were iconic in so many respects. Over the course of 16 glorious days, it witnessed new records, personal bests, great emotions and inspiring sportsmanship that only the magic of the Olympic Games can create. "Someone called them the most perfect imperfect Games," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "It's actually quite a good characterisation." The Rio de Janeiro Olympics may not have been perfect but organisers exceeded expectations given the political and economic situation in the South American country, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday. Rio was awarded the Games in 2009 amid Brazil's booming economy at the time, but the political crisis and the sharp financial downturn changed the organisers' plans. "From an operational point of view everything worked," the IOC's Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi told reporters. "Were they perfect? No. But with the results we can really take our hat off (to Rio organisers). It is amazing what they delivered",  he said. Dubi said the IOC was satisfied with the Rio Games especially with the  athletes' performances including 100 world and Olympic records. Several countries won their first ever Olympic medals and the global coverage of the Games beat all past records. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games were truly universal and inclusive. More NOCs than ever before sent athletes to the Games, while the women’s participation reached an all time high. Source:

News from our Members – Greece

Elections took place in the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation this autumn, whereby Dimitris Valasiadis was re-elected to the President's position and Konstantinos Korlos was confirmed as General

40 years ago: Melbourne 1956

The XVI Games of the Summer Olympiad finished on 8 December 1956, four decades ago, in Melbourne. 3,314 athletes were present representing 67 nations who vied for glory in 19 sports. That was the first Olympic Games in the Southern Hemisphere. The Australians had to face several obstacles, one of the gravest of which was raising the funds to hold the Games. Eventually, the host State of Victoria had to resort to the financial assistance from the central government to be able to construct the necessary facilities. Due to the strict Australian veterinary regulations and restrictions, the equestrian events had to be held - instead of Melbourne - at an earlier time in June in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. As for weightlifting: Olympic champion titles were awarded in seven bodyweight categories. Only two countries won gold: the USA athletes were best with four, the Soviet Union was second best with three gold medals each. The duel was decided on the last day when in the heavyweight category, the then plus 90kg, Paul Anderson triumphed with a round 500kg total result, including snatch, press and clean and jerk.

Imre Földi receives highest recognition ‘Prima Primissima’

The most popular and successful Hungarian weightlifter, Olympic, world and European champion Imre Földi has received a high recognition from Hungary’s society. Already a member of the elite Hall of Fame, Földi has been awarded the Prima Primissima Prize allocated to the most outstanding representatives of Hungary’s culture, arts, science and sport. In the presence of János Áder, President of the Republic of Hungary, at the awarding Gala  Földi was recognised as a ‘living legend’, who started his weightlifting career in the mid-1950s and remained on the national squad until 1977. He was the first weightlifter in the world to participate in five Olympic Games (1960-1976) winning silver medals in 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico before finally arriving at the peak of his career at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games where he became the Olympic champion. He added 5 world and 10 European titles to his collection and set 35 world records. In 2005 he was acclaimed as a “Lifter of the Century” and in 2009 he received the IWF Gold Award. The Prima Primissima Prize is awarded by a public vote involving the entire Hungarian

Jules Sylvain, Canadian weightlifter: 1925-2016

Jules Sylvain (1925-2016) Canadian weightlifter, coach and referee died in Quebec. Jules Sylvain was the very first citizen of the city of Quebec to participate in the Olympic Games (men-women, winter-summer, all sports combined). He was a great athlete who competed in two Olympic Games: 1952  in Helsinki (10th) and 1956 in Melbourne (9th). He held all the records of the British Empire in his bodyweight category. He was also an international referee and served many major events, including the Montreal Olympic Games. But of Jules what came out most is his great human qualities. He was a gentleman. In the sports world of Canadian weightlifting, everyone agrees that Jules has marked them with his exemplary personality. He was a positive example for the young and the not so young. He regarded refereeing as  life devotion - no better proof is that according to his last wish he was cremated in the official Technical Official uniform. May he rest in peace!   (Source: Yvon Chouinard, Quebec