Franz Hölbl

Franz Hölbl (born December 27, 1927 ) is an Austrian weightlifter . He was European heavyweight champion in 1954.

Career

Franz Hölbl began weightlifting in Vienna in 1946 . He was a member of the Auto Wien sports club . At a height of 1.80 meters, as a senior he always lifted in the heavyweight division, which was the highest weight class at the time and began at 82.5 kg until 1950 and at 90 kg from 1951. In his heyday as a weightlifter, Franz Hölbl weighed around 125 kg.

In 1949 he was the first Austrian heavyweight champion with a performance of 360 kg in the Olympic three-way fight. In the same year he also started in a friendship match between the city selections of Nuremberg and Vienna in Nuremberg and lifted 365 kg (110-110-145) there. He was defeated by the German champion Theo Aaldering from Essen , who strengthened the Nuremberg city selection and achieved 380 kg.

In 1950 Franz Hölbl already took part in the World and European Championships in Paris , but only took 10th and last place with 355 kg (105-110-140). This mission probably came a little early for him. In 1951 he finished second behind Willi Hafenscher at the Austrian championships, but was not used at the World and European Championships in Milan .

In 1952 he was again Austrian heavyweight champion with 395 kg. From then on, he had no serious competitor in Austria for a long time, especially since Willi Hafenscher had died in a traffic accident. In an international match against France in Vienna, he exceeded the ominous 400 kg limit in the Olympic triathlon with 410 kg for the first time and thus defeated the European middle heavyweight champion of 1951 Raymond Herbaux , who scored 385 kg. In another international match against the Federal Republic of Germany, however, he lost to European Champion Heinz Schattner with 392.5 kg: 410 kg.

At the Olympic Games in Helsinki he was not in good shape and only reached 387.5 kg, which was enough for 8th place. For comparison, the winner John Davis from the USA lifted 460 kg.

In 1953 he increased to 417.5 kg when he won the title at the Austrian championship. At the World and European Championships in Stockholm, Franz Hölbl achieved 6th place in the World Cup with 402.5 kg (125-120-157.5), but won in the European Championship after Heinz Schattner, 427.5 kg u. Theo Aaldering, 415 kg, took 3rd place and won his first medal at an international championship.

The year 1954 was the most successful in the career of Franz Hölbl because it was found at World and European Championships in his native Vienna European champion kg with 425 (135-127,5-162,5) and finished with this performance also in the championship standings behind the two Americans Norbert Schemansky , 487.5 kg and James Bradford , 462.5, third place. Towards the end of the year he increased his best performance in the Olympic three-way fight to 432.5 kg (137.5-130-165).

From this point onwards, Franz Hölbl, who was very busy as an engineer, stagnated in his work. There were signs that Austrian weightlifters, as well as those from the Federal Republic of Germany , would lose touch with the top European leagues, not to mention the world's top leagues, over the next few years. This was due to coaches who came from the 1930s and whose methods were only good for performances similar to those in the 1930s. The German weightlifters did not overcome this stagnation until the beginning of the 1970s with trainers Josef Schnell and Rudolf Mang . Basically, the Austrians have not yet overcome this stagnation today (2008).

Franz Hölbl was unable to defend his European championship title at the World and European Championships in Munich in 1955 , but with 417.5 kg (140-122.5-155) he at least won the bronze medal in the European Championship ranking behind Eino Mäkinen in Finland , 422, 5 kg u. Theo Aaldering, 420 kg. Shortly before the end of 1955 he achieved the best three-way performance of his career in Vienna with 440 kg (140-132.5-167.5).

In 1956 Franz Hölbl took 3rd place again at the European Championships in Katowice with 430 kg (140-127.5-162.5). The winner was Alexei Medvedev from the USSR , 465 kg, ahead of Alberto Pigaiani from Italy , 432.5 kg. He then started at the Olympic Games in Melbourne and came there with 425 kg (142.5-125-157.5) in 7th place. However, the winner Paul Anderson from the USA and the silver medalist Humberto Selvetti from Argentina each achieved 500 kg in the Olympic three-way battle.

In 1957, Franz Hölbl started again at the European Championships in Katowice , but only reached 5th place with 412.5 kg (145-117.5-150) and thus no longer won a medal.

In 1958, when he won the Austrian championship with 425 kg, Franz Hölbl showed increasing form again. However, he did not start at the World and European Championships this year.

But he tried it again at the World and European Championships in Warsaw in 1959 , after he had achieved 430 kg (145-122.5-162.5) in a test competition in Vienna. In Warsaw, however, he started pushing with 145 kg much too high and failed to make this load three times, which meant he had to retire unplaced. One could have wished for a slightly nicer end to Franz Hölbl's international career. Incidentally, Yuri Vlasov's star rose at this World Cup .

After Warsaw, Franz Hölbl ended his career as a weightlifter.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, S = Heavyweight, until 1950 from 82.5 kg, from 1951 from 90 kg body weight)

• 1950, 10th place , WM + EM in Paris , S, with 355 kg (105-110-140); Winner: John Davis (weightlifter) , USA , 462.5 kg, ahead of Jakob Kutsenko , USSR , 422.5 kg;
• 1952, 8th place , OS in Helsinki , S, with 387.5 kg: Winner: John Davis, 460 kg, ahead of James Bradford , USA, 437.5 kg;
• 1953, 6th place , WM + EM in Stockholm , S, with 402.5 kg (125-120-157.5); Winner World Championship: Doug Hepburn , Canada , 467.5 kg ahead of John Davis, 457.5 kg; EM valuation: 1st Heinz Schattner , FRG , 427.5 kg, 2nd Theo Aaldering , FRG, 415 kg, 3rd Franz Hölbl, 402.5 kg;
• 1954, 3rd place , WM + EM in Vienna , S, with 425 kg (135-127.5-162.5), behind Norbert Schemansky , USA, 487.5 kg a. James Bradford, 462.5 kg; EM valuation: 1st Franz Hölbl, 2nd Eino Mäkinen , Finland , 407.5 kg, 3rd Adolfo Mancinelli, Italy , 395 kg;
• 1955, 6th place , WM + EM in Munich , S, with 417.5 kg (140-122.5-155); Winner World Championships: 1st Paul Anderson, USA, 512.5 kg ahead of James Bradford, 475 kg, EM valuation: 1st Eino Mäkinen, Finland, 422.5 kg, 2nd Theo Aaldering, 420 kg, 3rd Franz Hölbl, 417.5 kg;
• 1956, 3rd place , EM in Helsinki , S, with 430 kg (140-127.5-162.5), behind Alexei Medvedev , USSR, 465 kg a. Alberto Pigaiani , Italy, 432.5 kg;
• 1956, 2nd place , Grand Prix of Moscow , S, with 430 kg (140-130-160), behind Romasenko, 435 kg a. before Veslowudsky, bde. USSR, 400 kg;
• 1956, 7th place , OS in Melbourne , S, with 425 kg (142.5-125-157.5); Winner: Paul Anderson, 500 kg, ahead of Humberto Selvetti , Argentina , 500 kg;
• 1957, 5th place , EM in Kattowitz , S, with 412.5 kg (145-117.5-150) behind Evgeni Novikow , USSR, 480 kg, Eino Mäkinen, 440 kg, Vaclav Syrovy , CSSR , 425 kg a. Silviu Cazan, Romania , 417.5 kg;
• 1959, unpl. , WM + EM in Warsaw , S, after 3 failed attempts in pressing; Winner: Yuri Vlasov , USSR, 500 kg, ahead of James Bradford, 492.5 kg

Austrian championships

• 1949, 1st place, S, with 360 kg,
• 1951, 2nd place, S, with 380 kg, behind Willi Hafenscher, 395 kg,
• 1952, 1st place, S, with 395 kg,
• 1953, 1st place, S, with 417.5 kg,
• 1954, 1st place, S, with 420 kg, in front of Johann Wurm, 370 kg,
• 1956, 1st place, S, with 422.5 kg, in front of Johann Wurm, 407.5 kg,
• 1957, 1st place, S, with 410 kg, in front of Johann Wurm, 380 kg,
• 1958, 1st place, S, with 425 kg

swell

• Professional journal Athletics, numbers: 6/1949, 21/1950, 12/1951, 4/1952, 7/8/1952, 11/1953, 18/1953, 20/1954, 8/1955, 21/22/1955, 20 / 1957, 23/1957, 11/1958, 20/1959,
• Website "www.chidlovski.net"

Web link

• Franz Hölbl in Top Olympic Lifters of the 20th Century
• Franz Hölbl in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )