Chen Manlin

Chen Manlin (Tschen Man-Lin) (* 1942 ) is a former Chinese weightlifter .

Career

Chen Manlin (Tschen Man-Lin) comes from Guangdong and is the younger brother of Chen Jingkai (Tschen Tsching-Kai), who in the 1950s was the first Chinese weightlifter to reach the top of the world and even set world records.

He also started lifting weights in the 1950s. The first result that became known of him was 305 kg in the Olympic triathlon in bantamweight. With this achievement he took 24th place in the world rankings for 1961.

It should be noted that the People's Republic of China was not a member of the international weightlifting federation, then known as the FIHC, in those years. Chinese weightlifters could not take part in the international championships. The world records they achieved were also not recognized by the FIHC and could therefore only have an unofficial character. In addition, news from China reached the West only sparsely in those years. Thanks to the sports magazine Athletik , however, some results from these years have become known.

In 1963, Chen Manlin took part in the Moscow Grand Prix . He took 4th place in the bantam weight with 315 kg (97.5-90-127.5). Basically, participation in this competition was illegal and the Soviet Weightlifting Association should have been punished by the FIHC for this, but the FIHC was politically weak and the Soviet Weightlifting Association was politically strong, so the proposed sanctions quietly fizzled out.

The next achievement that was made known by Chen Manlin was an unofficial world record, which he set up on February 27, 1965 in Beijing with 118 kg in pressing the bantamweight. In the world rankings for 1965 he appears in bantamweight with an excellent 350 kg (117.5-95-137.5), with which he took 3rd place.

In 1966, Chen Manlin again set unofficial world records. First he achieved the world record load of 128.5 kg in Beijing on March 12, 1966 by pressing the featherweight and later that year he managed to press 118.5 kg again in the so-called GANEFO games in Phnom Penh in the bantamweight. The results of a competition in Beijing are also known from 1966. It was the competition of the "New Emerging Forces" (competition of the new coming forces). He managed there in the bantam weight 342.5 kg (110-100-132.5), with which he won ahead of the two Japanese Tokyo and Masaru, who both reached 320 kg.

After 1966, no results are known from Chen Manlin for the next seven years. The reason was the so-called Chinese Cultural Revolution. In 1967, Mao Tsedong declared that participation in sporting events by Chinese youth would deter them from revolutionary political struggle. That was also the end of weightlifting in China by 1973.

After the end of this cultural revolution, Chen Manlin was one of the first Chinese weightlifters to take part in international championships. This was made possible because the People's Republic of China was accepted into the international weightlifting federation in 1974 at an FIHC congress in Manila . But the weightlifters were excluded from the Republic of China .

Chen Manlin then started in 1974 at the Asian Games in Tehran and finished there in bantamweight with 237.5 kg (97.4-140) behind Kenkichi Ando , Japan , 250 kg, 2nd place. He was also at the World Championships in Manila and came there with 232.5 kg (97.5-135) in bantamweight on the 9th place. In November 1974 there was also an interesting international match between England and the People's Republic of China in Bath / England . That was the first international match of the People's Republic in the "West" at that time. Chen Manlin started there in featherweight and achieved 242.5 kg (102.5-140), with which he clearly defeated his opponent Daniels, who scored 95 kg in the snatch and had three failed attempts in the jerk.

At the World Championships 1975 in Moscow Chen Manlin could not participate because China with the Soviet Union had become deeply estranged, and took care not exercise traffic with the Soviet Union. He was also unable to compete in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal because China had not yet been accepted by the IOC. At the 1977 World Championships in Stuttgart , however, he was able to start again and finished there in bantamweight, now at the age of 35, with 245 kg (105-140) behind Jiro Hosotani , Japan , who was 252.5 kg (107.5-145 ) and Georgi Todorow from Bulgaria , who weighed 247.5 kg (110-137.5), took 3rd place.

Then he ended his weightlifting career, which was characterized by constant political influences that made it difficult for him to simply practice his sport and take part in the international championships.

Well-known competitions by Chen Manlin

year	space	competition	Weight class
1963	4th	Moscow Grand Prix	Bantam	with 315 kg (97.5-90-127.5); Winner: Marzagulow, USSR , with 347.5 kg (110-102.5-135)
1966	1.	GANEFO games in Phnom Penh	Bantam
1966	1.	Competition of the New Emerging Forces in Beijing	Bantam	with 342.5 kg (110-100-132.5), before T. Tokyo, Japan , 320 kg a. Masaru, Japan, 320 kg
1974	2.	Asia Games in Tehran	Bantam	with 237.5 kg (97.5–140), behind Kenkichi Ando , Japan , 250 kg, in front of Han Gyong-Si, North Korea , 237.5 kg
1974	9.	World Cup in Manila	Bantam	at 232.5 kg (97.5-135); Winner: Atanas Kirow , Bulgaria , 255 kg (110-145) ahead of Leszek Skorupa , Poland , 250 (112.5-137.5)
1977	3.	World Cup in Stuttgart	Bantam	with 245 kg (105-140), behind Jiro Hosotani , Japan, 252.5 kg (107.5-145) u. Georgi Todorow , Bulgaria, 247.5 kg (110-137.5)

World Cup individual medal

• World Cup silver medal: 1977 / pushing

Explanations

• Competitions until 1972 in the Olympic three-way fight, consisting of pushing, tearing and pushing,
• Competitions from 1973 in single combat, consisting of tearing and pushing,
• WM = World Championship,
• Bantam weight, then up to 56 kg body weight,
• Feather weight, back then up to 60 kg body weight

swell

• Professional magazine Athletik , numbers: 2/1962, page 7, 9/1963, page 16, 9/1965, page 16, 7/1977, page 16, 9/1966, page 16, 24/1966, page 16
• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig

Web links

Short portrait of Chen Manlin with photo from the 1977 World Cup in Stuttgart

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Chen is the family name here, Manlin is the first name.