Hellenic Weightlifting Federation
Weightlifting is closely related to the Revival of the Olympic Games. In 1896, weightlifting was included in the Olympic Games in Athens as an official sport without weight categories and with different rules from the current ones. Weight had to be pressed with only one hand – left or right – and with both hands. Alexandros Nikolopoulos and Sotiris Versis, the first two Greek participants, although they were too close, did not manage to win, because they were unaware of the whole system.
It did not take long for Greek athletes to show their appeal to weightlifting. In 1904, in Saint Louis, Periklis Kakousis took first place, lifting with both hands 111,670kg. However, Dimitris Tofalos became a national hero after taking first place at the 1906 Mid-Olympics in Athens. It was the first time that our country met such a success in weightlifting.
At those Olympics, weightlifting competition lasted only 2 days, mainly because the sport was at its offset. The bar weighed too much, 136kg, and only three athletes, Tofalos, Hungarian Veis and Austrian Steinbach, were able to continue. Then, only Tofalos and Steinbach attempted at 142.800kg.
Tofalos managed to lift the weight on his second attempt. The judges though ruled it out canceled because he let the bar rest on his chest. On his second attempt, Steinbach brought the bar close to his chest, but he finally threw it away and fell down, beside the bar bell. The Greek lifter failed on his third attempt, even though he managed to bring the bar close to his face. On the other hand, the Austrian athlete did not even manage to bring the bar close to his knees.
During that period, athletes were entitled to making four attempts. After Steinbach gave up, Dimitris Tofalos made his last attempt.
Spurred by the cheering crowd he stood in front of the bar, grabbed it with his hands and, by making an astonishing attempt, lifted the unprecedented, for that period, weight. His record was to stand until 1914. Ten years later, in 1924, once again the rules changed.
At this point, it is worth mentioning the first sections of weightlifting that were formed during the period between 1896 and 1906 by the Sports Clubs Eteria Patron, Panellinios Gymnastics Sports Club, and Ethnikos Gymnastics Sports Club.
However, the success of Greek lifters, such as Tofalos, Versis, Nikolopoulos, Christopoulos, Kakousis, Fokas, Georgiadis and Varanakis, did not hinder weightlifting’s recession. It took several years, just before the start of the Second World War, for the reappearance of weightlifting.
The year 1935 marks a turning point in the history of weightlifting in Greece. It was in that year, when Jacques Karyotakis managed to take away weightlifting, together with wrestling and boxing, from SEGAS jurisdiction. The integration of weightlifting into wrestling resulted in the first memorandum, while some competitions among the weightlifters of Ethnikos to promote weightlifting emerged.
Konstantinos Tsitsibakos was the only Greek athlete who nearly touched the world record of that period in clean and jerk, lifting with one hand 77.5kg. However, the beginning of Second World War resulted in the recession of weightlifting.
In 1948 a new era for weightlifting begins. After the London Olympics Jacques Karyotakis appealed to the Organizing Committee to provide the National Gymnastics Club with modern equipment. His demand was promptly satisfied; weights were granted to the Wrestling Federation for the training of weightlifters and wrestlers of the National Gymnastics Club. Th. Papoulias, M. Sideris, Ch. Dragonas, M. Kavouras, Tsoukalas, Bobos and Kontogoulis are some prominent lifters of that period.
In 1951-52, Italian wrestling trainer Bianci was the first tutor of weightlifting techniques. He undertook the difficult task of initiating the athletes of Ethnikos to the first tricks of weightlifting, as it turned out to be in Europe.
The first signs of the success that weightlifting would meet in Greece occurred during the period between 1955-58. Many athletes were to follow in the footsteps of Stelios Arvanitopoulos, Marios Arvanitopoulos, Christos Tsipis, Nikos Grammatikopoulos, Ilias Bazinas and Andreas Fassianos.
Weightlifting begins to develop at a more rapid pace in 1959. K. Apollonatos, K. Christakos, Nik. Polydoros, Zinopoulos and G. Ekonomou, who will dominate in the next decade, join Panathinaikos. On the other hand, I. Psaltis from Egypt, who took 11th place representing Greece in the 1960 Olympics, enrolls in the National Gymnastics Club. In 1961 he took 9th place at the World Championships in Vienna.
Psaltis’ success in accordance with the first Olympic Weightlifting Competitions resulted in the formation of weightlifting sections in many Sports Clubs. In northern Greece and specifically in Thessaloniki, weightlifting emerged as a domestic competition, taking place in gyms such as HANTH, VAO, NOTH and Kautantzoglio.
Among the Sports Clubs, HANTH was the first one that formed a weightlifting section, enrolling athletes coming from field and track, wrestling, rowing and other sports that showed interest in these competitions. The first official competitions were held in 1961. For the first time participants were separated in weight categories and the results were released to press.
In 1964, Christos Iakovou comes in the forefront. It is the year when Olympic champion and Greek WL federation trainer joins Panathinaikos, which was the leading weightlifting club in Athens.
In 1959, according to the “Sports Encyclopedia”, the first National Competition is carried out.