Dieter Westphal

Dieter Westphal (* 1942 ) is a former German weightlifter .

Career

The Frankfurt Dieter Westphal was actually a rower. During the training of the rowers, he also came into contact with weightlifting, which is where his great talent for this sport was discovered. But he was already about 25 years old when he started special training for weightlifting. He weighed about 105 kg and was therefore a full-grown heavyweight.

The first results that are known from him come from 1967. He was already starting in the Bundesliga team of SG Bornheim and managed 345 kg in the Olympic three-way battle. Just one year later, the team fights increased to 370 kg in the Olympic three-way fight. In 1970 he already achieved 425 kg (125-130-170) in the heavyweight division , meanwhile starting for the TG Bockenheim . In 1972 he took part in the heavyweight division for the first time for the Frankfurt TG, which emerged from the Bornheimer TG, in the German senior championships. He achieved 500 kg (147.5-152.5-200) in the Olympic three-way battle and came in 5th place. At this point in time it was already clear that after the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , the Olympic three-way fight would no longer require pushing and a duel consisting of tearing and pushing would be introduced instead. Since Dieter Westphal was weak in pushing, but strong in tearing and pushing, it was clear that from 1973 he would be one of the best German heavyweights in duels.

This was already confirmed at the German championships in 1973, in which Dieter Westphal won the German championship title with 347.5 kg, ahead of Horst Günter Roersch from Frankfurt (Main) , who also scored 347.5 kg, but was a little heavier than Westphal. He was then used in 1973 at the European Championships in Madrid and won two bronze medals in the heavyweight division with 355 kg (155-200) in a duel. Namely those in duels and those in pushing. At the 1973 World Championships in Havana he achieved 350 kg (155-195) and thus finished 7th in a duel. With the 155 kg he achieved in the snatch, he just missed a world championship medal with a 4th place.

In 1974 Dieter Westphal also achieved excellent placings at the international championships, even though he narrowly missed medals. He finished fifth at the European Championships in Verona with 360 kg (157.5-202.5) and finished fourth at the World Championships in Manila with the same performance. After that, Dieter Westpahl, who meanwhile started for VfL Wolfsburg , stagnated in his performance development because he had to pursue a job as an insurance salesman and therefore did not have as much time for training as the weightlifters who were mostly in the army or other state bodies at the time Eastern bloc states. In 1975 he came at the World and European Championships in Moscow with 355 kg (155-200) in the world championship ranking on the 7th and in the European championship ranking on the 6th place. At the European Championships in 1976 in Berlin (East) he again achieved 355 kg (155-200) in the heavyweight duel, but this performance was only enough for 11th place there. Dieter Westphal could not qualify for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal .

He therefore ended his weightlifting career, in which he had also become German heavyweight champion from 1974 to 1976, at the end of 1976. Judging by the fact that he had only started this at the age of almost 25, scored he still has great success.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class
1973	4th	Intern. Tournament in Tashkent	Heavy	with 345 kg, behind Pawel Perwuschin , USSR , 392.5 kg, Stefan Grützner , GDR , 362.5 kg a. Kauko Kangasniemi , Finland , 360 kg
1973	3.	EM in Madrid	Heavy	with 355 kg (155-200), behind Pawel Pervuschin , 400 kg (177.4-222.5) u. Helmut Losch , GDR, 362.5 kg (157.5-205), before Rudolf Strejczek, CSSR , 352.5 kg (155-197.5)
1973	7th	World Cup in Havana	Heavy	with 350 kg (155-195); Winner: Pawel Perwuschin , 385 kg (170-215) ahead of Helmut Losch , 370 kg (155-215)
1974	5.	EM in Verona	Heavy	with 360 kg (157.5-202.5), behind W. Ustyushin, USSR, 390 kg (162.5-227.5), Valentin Christow , Bulgaria , 387.5 kg (167.5-220), Jürgen Ciezki , GDR, 370 kg (165-205) a. Stefan Grützner , 362.5 kg (160-202.5)
1974	4th	World Cup in Manila	Heavy	with 360 kg (157.5-202.5), behind W. Ustyuschin, 380 kg (167.5-212.5), Jürgen Ciezki , 377.5 kg (165-212.5) and Yuri Saizew , USSR, 367.5 kg (160-207.5)
1975	3.	Grand Prix of Berlin	Heavy	with 352.5 kg, behind Helmut Losch , 362.5 kg u. Peter Käks , GDR, 360 kg
1975	3.	Danube Cup tournament in Donaueschingen	Heavy	with 350 kg (155-195), behind Valentin Christow , 402.5 kg (177.5-225) u. Jan Trnka, CSSR, 352.5 kg (150-202.5)
1975	1.	EC cup tournament in Maastricht	Heavy	with 350 kg (152.5-197.5), before Pierre Gourrier, France , 337.5 kg (150-187.5 and Wolfgang Neyses , FRG , 332.5 kg (145-197.5)
1975	7th	WM + EM (6th) in Moscow	Heavy	with 355 kg (155-200); Winner: Valentin Christow , 417.5 kg (180-237.5)
1976	1.	EC cup tournament in Brussels	Super heavy	with 360 kg (160-200), before Strange, Great Britain, 335 kg (150-185)
1976	11.	EM in Berlin (East)	Heavy	with 355 kg (155-200); Winner: Walentin Christow , 415 kg (185-230)

WM + EM individual medals

• 1973: European Championship bronze medal in pushing

German championships

year	space	Weight class	Result
1972	5.	Heavy	with 500 kg (147.5-152.5-200); Winner: Rainer Dörrzapf , Mutterstadt , 532.5 kg (177.5-165-190)
1973	1.	Heavy	with 347.5 kg, ahead of Günter Roersch, Frankfurter TG, 347.5 kg a. Horst Stöwhase, Berlin , 322.5 kg
1974	1.	Heavy	with 355 kg
1975	1.	Heavy	with 357.5 kg, in front of Wolfgang Neyses , Trier , 350 kg a. Günter Drobing, Oberhausen, 335 kg
1976	1.	Super heavy	me 332.5 kg, before Horst Stöwhase, 332.5 kg u. Lutz Reichert, Berlin, 332.5 kg

Explanations

• Competitions until 1972 in the Olympic three-way fight (push, tear and push), since 1973 in one-on-one (tear and push),
• Heavy weight, then up to 110 kg, super heavy weight, then over 110 kg body weight,
• WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship

swell

• Trade journal athletics ,
• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig

Web links

• Profile of Dieter Westphal