Norbert "Norb" Schemansky (May 30, 1924 – September 7, 2016) was an American

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

. He was the first weightlifter to win four Olympic medals, despite missing the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, w ...

due to back problems. He won a silver medal in the

1948 Summer Olympic Games The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, a gold in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

and bronzes in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

Biography

Schemansky was a three-time world champion and a Pan American and Olympic games gold medalist. During his long weightlifting career (1947–1972) he set 13 official and 11 unofficial world records.Norbert Schemansky @ Lift Up Hall of Fame
Chidlovski.net. Retrieved August 2, 2012. On April 28, 1962, at the age of 37 years and 333 days, Schemansky became the oldest man in the history of weightlifting to set an official world record, when he snatched 164 kg. In 1997 Schemansky was inducted into the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

Hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

. In 1979, he was inducted into the

National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field o ...

. He was born and raised in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and from 1959 until his death in 2016 lived in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States per ...

, where a city park was named for him. Prior to his years of Olympic weightlifting competition, Schemansky served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

with the 184th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion and fought at the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. Schemansky died in Dearborn on September 7, 2016, at the age of 92, while in hospice care.

References

External links

Image of Norbert Schemansky training for the1964 Olympics, 1964.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schemansky, Norbert 1924 births 2016 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American strength athletes American male weightlifters Weightlifters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in weightlifting Olympic silver medalists for the United States in weightlifting Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in weightlifting Sportspeople from Detroit American people of Polish descent Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in weightlifting People associated with physical culture Weightlifters at the 1955 Pan American Games World Weightlifting Championships medalists Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games