Weightlifting Forums

I note that Bruce Klemens posted a summary of those in weightlifting and strength in general who have passed in the last year. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/p ... ></iframe>

'IN MEMORIAM
As the year comes to an end, let’s not forget those who we lost in 2022. It was not a good year for the “Iron Game.” I have no doubt I have left some out, but here’s those that I am aware of:
Isaac Berger (USA), 85: Many time US national champion. 1956 Olympic champion in the 60 kg class. Silver medalist in 1960 and 1964. Set 7 world records.
Yuri Zaitsev (USSR), 71: 1976 Olympic champion in the 110 kg class.
Bill March (USA), 85: World record holder in the press and US national champion in the 90 kg class.
Oscar Chaplin III (USA), 41: Junior world champion and many time US national champion.
Mihaly Huszka (HUN), 89: Twice placed 2nd in the World Championships, nearly winning. Masters World champion many times. Moved to the USA and became a very successful coach.
Viktor Mazin (USSR), 67: 1980 Olympic champion in the 60 kg class. Set 5 world records.
Tommy Suggs (USA), 86: A very good lifter but perhaps better known as an editor of Strength & Health magazine.
Roger Sadecki (USA), 79: A very good lifter in his younger days who later became a well known referee and official. I chatted with Roger at the 2021 US Nationals and was shocked to learn of his death.
Fred Schutz (USA), 89: 1958 US national champion and father of national champion Rich Schutz.
Rob Macklem (CAN), 69: A very well known weightlifting photographer.
Marvin Eder (USA), 90: Excelled in all facets of the Iron Game – weightlifting, bodybuilding, and strength feats.
Bill Pearl (USA), 91: One of the greatest bodybuilders of all time and 5 time Mr. Universe.
Bob Gajda (USA), 82: 1966 Mr. America and popularizer of the PHA system.
Louie Simmons (USA), 74: Very well known powerlifting coach and originator of the conjugate system.

From Arthur Chidlovski

Remembering Petr Pavlasek (1947-2023)
January 3, 2023 – One of the best super heavyweights of the 1970s, Petr Pavlasek of Czech Republic passed away in Tyn nad Vltavou at 75.
A 2x Olympian, Petr Pavlasek competed for for Czechoslovakia at the Summer Olympics in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976). Overall, he won the national title of Czechoslovakia 5 times (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976) and, as a lead super heavyweight, he was selected to the national weightlifting team from 1969 to 1976.
Petr Pavlasek was the first athlete of his country to reach milestone results in this sport. He was the first athlete of Czechoslovakia to become a member of the elite Club 500 international (1969). His personal best in the total of 3 lifts was 557.5kg at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich on September 6, 1972. After, the elimination of press lift from the IWF tournaments in 1972, Pavlasek became the first weightlifter of his country to reach the 400kg total (1976). Also, he was the first one to clean-and-jerk 200kg. His best performance in the top international tournaments was the 4th place – at the World Championships in Manila (1974) and at the European Championships in Madrid (1973) and in Verona (1974).
Our deepest condolences are being sent to the family and close friends of a Great Iron Game Champion.
Rest in Peace, Petr Pavlasek!

From Coffee's Gym.

John Bryan Coffee
November 1st, 1946 - January 22nd, 2023
John Coffee has passed away.
John was involved in the sport of Weightlifting for over 50 years. Coming from the small town of Eastman, Georgia, he built the pioneering powerhouse Coffee's Gym that developed Olympians, a World Champion, and numerous Pan American and National Champions.
From a USAW article:
"John Coffee started Coffee’s Gym in the Atlanta area in 1980 and is credited with helping develop competitive Olympic Weightlifting for women in the United States— a concept just coming onto the scene at the time. Since then, the gym produced 36 of the 70 medals won by women at the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships and has won more women's national team titles than any other women's teams combined."
The world of Weightlifting has lost a legend.

Vale Lee James.

From Bruce Klemen's facebook page.

Horrible, terrible news. I just heard Lee James (USA) fell off his roof and died at age 69. No further details. Lee, of course, was silver medalist in the 90 kg class at the 1976 Olympics, second to David Rigert. One of the greatest US lifters off all time. Rest in peace, Lee!

Vale Harvey Newton.

'Head coach for the USA Olympic Weightlifting Team in 1984, being the first national coach of the USA Weightlifting team (1981-1984)'

From Sportsedtvhttps://sportsedtv.com/blog/sportsedtv- ... o3EjGsYQDY

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifti ... er-Hendrix

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/ob ... /wis393574

Lea Rentmeester Hendrix has died at the age of 49 due to cancer.

Vale Sir Ben Helfgott - what a life.

https://iwf.sport/2023/06/18/iwf-in-mou ... fgott-gbr/

Kazakh WL IG page reporting that Vladimir Sedov has died.

Words fail me.

I felt like he was in a bad place just before the re-tests were announced, then he finished lifting and then after a while it looked like he was getting his life together though he seemed to post then delete a lot of stuff on social media.

I'll never forget him equaling the world record in the snatch in 2014.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct-xHavoZTt/

'Vladimir Sedov, whose highly successful weightlifting career was destroyed by doping, has taken his own life at the age of 35, according to a police statement in Kazakhstan.

He is the second leading lifter from Kazakhstan to have committed suicide in less than two years.

Sedov had apparently "disappeared" recently, according to an in-depth report in Sport-express that said he had not contacted friends or relatives for a while and had been suffering mental health problems for about six months.'

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles ... ov-suicide

Hawkpeter wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:04 pm 'Vladimir Sedov, whose highly successful weightlifting career was destroyed by doping, has taken his own life at the age of 35, according to a police statement in Kazakhstan.

He is the second leading lifter from Kazakhstan to have committed suicide in less than two years.

Sedov had apparently "disappeared" recently, according to an in-depth report in Sport-express that said he had not contacted friends or relatives for a while and had been suffering mental health problems for about six months.'

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles ... ov-suicide

Unfortunately, that's what I had expected. Tragic and deeply saddening, hopefully now at peace.