History the WeightLifting
National Championships were also held in 1964. According to Christos Iakovou’s book: “In 1964, Hellenic Wrestling. Federation decided to hold the 1st Hellenic Wrestling Championships. They were held at Panathinaikos’ Gym under the supervision of the Weightlifting Technical Committee. The championships lasted two days, October 17-18. The clubs that took part were Panathinaikos with 15 athletes, Ethnikos with 7 athletes, Olympiakos with 4 athletes, HANTH with 2 athletes, Dafni Sports Club with 5 athletes, Paradeisos with 5 athletes and the Kidon Sports Club, Hania, with 3 athletes”.
According to the same source, Panathinaikos came up first with 50 points, followed by Ethnikos (25 points) and Dafni Athletic Club (14 points).
Weightlifting is, from now on, progressing in a prompt way.
The 1st National Championships and the arrival of brothers Stergios and Christos Tsoukas from USA, make weightlifting a popular sport.
Greek weightlifters are constantly breaking records, while new athletes emerge. Although Panathinaikos remains the leading sports club, Crete becomes a region of great importance in weightlifting. Furthermore, the Technical Committee begins to hold related events, such as Southern Greece Championships or Championships for athletes that have not yet achieved distinction. National competitions are held in Kastoria, Ioannina and Hania.
In 1965, the 2nd National Championships were held by Panathinaikos, which took first place, while Panellinios and Ethnikos finished second and third respectively.
On May 21 and 22, 1966, the 1st National Junior Championships were held once again by Panathinaikos, which was one of the competitors. The other participants were Panellinios, Olympiakos, Kidon Hania, AO Sportig and AO Tifon. These events were extremely successful, considering that Amourgis and Iakovou broke four national records; the first one broke three records in the 56kg category and the second one record in the 75kg category. Panathinaikos took first place, while Olympiakos and Kidon Marousi finished second and third respectively. In Men’s 3rd Championship, in the same year, Panathinaikos took first place, AO Paradeisos came up second and AO Sportig third.
1967 is once again a year of success and growth for Greek weightlifting.
Apart from Men and Junior Championships, the 1st Championships of Armed Forces were held. The Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Police took part. The Navy placed first, the Army second and the Police third.
Also, 1967 was the year of the first post-war distinction. Greece participated in the Mediterranean Games in Tunis and collected one gold medal with S. Tsoukas and one bronze with Ch. Iakovou who, actually, on December 9, set a new junior world record in the 75kg category with 136.5kg. This performance was the most important event of the year. It was the first time in the history of weightlifting that a Greek athlete set a new junior world record.
The next year, 1968, was equally promising. Greek athletes broke 35 of 56 world records. Ch. Iakovou in particular set for the second time new junior world record, pressing with both hands 139kg, in the category of 75kg, at a competition that the International Weightlifting Federation held in London. In the same year, A. Flaskis (Panathinaikos) set three national records, S. Tsoukas (Panathinaikos) five, Y. Michailidis (Olympiakos) two and Kanaris three. However, it was P. Spyrou who delivered quite unexpectedly a brilliant performance, taking first place in the 75kg category at the National Championships. In 1968 also, the first competition among clubs was held in Thessaloniki. HANTH, VAO and the Kalamaria High School took part. The next year, the first Judges’ Union was formed in Southern Greece, as well as the first competition among the schools of Thessaloniki.
In 1969, a Greek weightlifter, Ch. Iakovou, and a specific region, Thessaloniki prevailed. Iakovou came up fifth in Europe and sixth in the world, at the World Junior Championships in Warsaw. And HANTH of Thessaloniki took first place at the National Junior Championships, followed by Olympiakos and Atlas Kallithea. Among Greek lifters, P. Spyrou (Olympiakos) prevailed, while Athanasiadis (52kg) and Iliadis (82.5kg) from Thessaloniki, with Takis Aslanian as trainer, marked an excellent performance.
Also, in 1969, Greece participated in the 1st Balkan Games, fielding for the first time a complete team. Greece collected six medals (one gold, one silver and four bronze) and took third place in the final standing.