Gerd Bonk (26 August 1951 – 20 October 2014) was an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

who was active from 1969 to 1980 who won silver at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

, bronze at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, and set three world records. He was the first man in history to

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

. He also achieved numerous other top-three placements at

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

European Weightlifting Championships European Weightlifting Championships is an annual event organised by the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF). It has been held since 1896. A separate event for women was held from 1988 to 1997, after which both championships have been held ...

. He was also a master mechanic.

Biography

Bonk began his career at BSG Motor Nema

Netzschkau Netzschkau () is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...

as a track and field athlete and set the

youth record for the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

in 1967 with 17.82 m. To build up the necessary strength for shot putting, he regularly lifted weights. After participating in weightlifting contests and having greater successes in it than in shot putting, he shifted his focus completely towards weightlifting in 1969 at

SC Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Karl-Marx-Stadt was a sports club located at Karl-Marx-Stadt in the German Democratic Republic. Established in 1945, the sports club went through a variation of name changes until 1 July 1963, settling with SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which lasted unt ...

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

. His coach was Klaus Kroll, a former top weightlifter of the GDR. In 1971 Bonk became GDR super heavyweight champion (with a bodyweight above 110 kg). During the Baltic-Cup, in

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

in the same year, he had his international debut, where he made three failed pressing attempts. Being a top lifter, he was never able to beat

Vasiliy Alekseyev Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev (; 7 January 1942 – 25 November 2011) was a Soviet weightlifter. He set 80 world records and 81 Soviet national records in weightlifting and won Olympic gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 games. Biography At the age ...

from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Rudolf Mang Rudolf Mang (17 June 1950 – 12 March 2018) was a German heavyweight weightlifter. He competed at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and placed fifth and second, respectively. Between 1971 and 1972 he won four more medals at the world and European champ ...

from Germany up to 1980. His specialty was the

, where he set two world records. In 1980 he once more placed third at the European Championships and even lifted 430 kg (180–250) in a smaller competition. Because he was not nominated for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, he stepped back from professional weightlifting. Bonk lived in Limbach/Vogtland as a pensioner. He was one of the prominent victims of

doping in East Germany The government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) conducted a decades-long program of coercive administration and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, initially testosterone, later mainly anabolic drugs, to its elite athletes. The a ...

reporting in 2003 that he had "diabetes, a failing liver and his feet are numb, among a host of signs of a failing body".http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/01/1048962754081.html Doping victims get short-changed on gold, Roy Kammerer, The Age In 2002 he was awarded the Georg von Opel Prize for Silent Winners in the category "Special Warriors".

World records

Bonk set two world records in clean and jerk: * , 1975 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) * , 1976 in Berlin.

GDR Championships

Bonk was East German champion in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1979 and won another 15 East German champion titles in

clean and press The clean and press is a two-part weight training exercise whereby a loaded barbell is lifted from the floor to the shoulders (the clean) and pushed overhead (the press). The lift was a component of the sport of Olympic weightlifting from 1928 to ...

(until 1972), snatch and clean and jerk.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonk, Gerd 1951 births 2014 deaths People from Vogtlandkreis German male weightlifters Weightlifters from Saxony Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Weightlifters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1976 Summer Olympics European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists Sportspeople from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt East German male shot putters East German male weightlifters SC Karl-Marx-Stadt sportspeople