Weightlifting at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 56 kg

The men's 56 kg weightlifting competitions at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place on 23 November at the Royal Exhibition Building.[1] It was the third appearance of the bantamweight class.[2]

Men's 56 kg
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueRoyal Exhibition Building
Date23 November 1956
Competitors16 from 13 nations
Winning total342.5 kg WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Charles Vinci  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Vladimir Stogov  Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mahmoud Namjoo  Iran
← 1952
1960 →

Each weightlifter had three attempts at each of the three lifts. The best score for each lift was summed to give a total. The weightlifter could increase the weight between attempts (minimum of 5 kg between first and second attempts, 2.5 kg between second and third attempts) but could not decrease weight. If two or more weightlifters finished with the same total, the competitors' body weights were used as the tie-breaker (lighter athlete wins).[1]

Records

edit

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record Press   Vladimir Stogov (URS) 107.5 kg 1956
Snatch   Charles Vinci (USA) 102.5 kg Munich, West Germany 12 October 1955
Clean & Jerk   Chen Ching Kai (CHN) 133 kg 1956
Total   Vladimir Stogov (URS) 335 kg Munich, West Germany 12 October 1955
Olympic record Press   Joseph De Pietro (USA) 105 kg London, United Kingdom 9 August 1948
Snatch   Ivan Udodov (URS) 97.5 kg Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952
Clean & Jerk   Ivan Udodov (URS) 127.5 kg Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952
Total   Ivan Udodov (URS) 315 kg Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952

Results

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Body
weight
Press (kg) Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total
1 2 3 Result 1 2 3 Result 1 2 3 Result
  Charles Vinci   United States 56.00 100 105 105 105 =OR 100 105 107.5 105 OR 127.5 132.5 135 132.5 342.5 WR
  Vladimir Stogov   Soviet Union 56.00 100 105 107.5 105 =OR 97.5 102.5 105 105 OR 127.5 132.5 132.5 127.5 337.5
  Mahmoud Namjoo   Iran 56.00 95 100 105 100 95 100 102.5 102.5 125 130 130 130 332.5
4 Yu In-ho   South Korea 55.70 82.5 87.5 90 90 90 95 95 95 130 135 140 135 WR 320
5 Kim Hae-nam   South Korea 55.70 85 90 90 85 95 100 100 95 120 125 127.5 127.5 307.5
6 Yoshio Nanbu   Japan 55.60 82.5 82.5 87.5 87.5 90 95 97.5 97.5 115 120 125 120 305
7 Reg Gaffley   South Africa 56.00 85 92.5 97.5 97.5 85 90 92.5 90 110 117.5 122.5 117.5 305
8 Yukio Furuyama   Japan 55.80 85 90 92.5 90 87.5 92.5 92.5 87.5 115 120 125 125 302.5
9 Song Re-nado   Republic of China 55.10 85 85 90 85 77.5 82.5 85 85 105 112.5 117.5 117.5 287.5
10 Gaston Gaffney   South Africa 55.70 82.5 87.5 92.5 87.5 80 85 87.5 85 112.5 117.5 117.5 112.5 285
11 Aw Chu Kee   Burma 56.00 85 85 85 85 80 85 85 80 110 110 115 110 275
12 Valli Asari Mookan   India 55.00 72.5 80 82.5 80 75 80 85 80 107.5 112.5 112.5 112.5 272.5
13 Charles Henderson   Australia 55.50 72.5 77.5 77.5 72.5 85 90 90 85 105 110 115 115 272.5
13 Michael Swain   Guyana 55.50 75 80 82.5 80 82.5 87.5 87.5 82.5 110 115 115 110 272.5
15 Habib Rahman   Pakistan 55.70 75 80 82.5 80 72.5 72.5 75 90 95 97.5 97.5 177.5
16 Pedro Landero   Philippines 55.70 95 95 95 Retired

As weigh-in time approached, Vinci was one and a half pounds overweight. After an hour of running and sweating he was still seven ounces over the limit with 15 minutes to go. Fortunately, a severe last-minute haircut did the trick, and Vinci went on to win the gold medal.[3]

New records

edit
Press 105 kg   Charles Vinci (USA)
  Vladimir Stogov (URS)
=OR
Snatch 105 kg   Charles Vinci (USA)
  Vladimir Stogov (URS)
OR
Clean & Jerk 135 kg   Yu In-ho (KOR) OR
Total 342.5 kg   Charles Vinci (USA) WR

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Official Report, p. 634.
  2. ^ "Weightlifting at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Bantamweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  3. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 628. ISBN 0140066322.