James George (weightlifter)

James George (left) at the 1960 Olympic Games

James George (born June 1, 1935 in Akron , Ohio ) is a former American weightlifter .

Career

Jim, as he was commonly known, was the younger brother of the Olympic weightlifting champion, Peter George, by six years . Animated by this, he also began weightlifting in high school and showed his excellent talent in regional competitions. As the careers of very successful American weightlifters came to an end towards the end of the 1950s, Jim George was given special support as a young weightlifter by Bob Hofmann in order to close the gap. Jim reached the top of the world very quickly, but he did not win an international title.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, Ls = light heavyweight, Ms = middle heavyweight)

• 1955, 3rd place , World Championship in Munich , Ls, with 402.5 kg, behind Thomas Kono , USA , 435 kg and Wassili Stepanow , USSR , 425 kg;
• 1956, bronze medal , OS in Melbourne , Ls, with 417.5 kg, behind Kono, 447.5 kg and Stepanow, 427.5 kg;
• 1957, 2nd place , World Championship in Tehran , Ls, with 422.5 kg, behind Trofim Lomakin , USSR, 450 kg and in front of Jallal Mansouri, Iran , 412.5 kg;
• 1958, 2nd place , World Championships in Stockholm , Ls, with 435 kg, behind Lomakin, 440 kg and in front of Marcel Paterni , France , 432.5 kg;
• 1959, 1st place , PanAm Games, Ls, with 402.5 kg, ahead of Guittens, Venezuela , 375 kg and Collee, Puerto Rico , 372.5 kg;
• 1959, 3rd place , World Championship in Warsaw , Ls, with 417.5 kg, behind Rudolf Plukfelder , USSR, 457.5 kg and Ireneusz Paliński , Poland , 432.5 kg;
• 1960, 1st place , North American Championships, Ms, 425 kg, ahead of Hudson, USA, 420 kg;
• 1960, silver medal , OS in Rome , Ls, with 430 kg, behind Paliński, 442.5 kg and in front of Jan Bochenek , Poland, 420 kg;
• 1961, 6th place, World Championships in Vienna , Ms, with 432.5 kg;
• 1962, 4th place, World Championships in Budapest , Ms, with 435 kg, behind Louis Martin (weightlifter) , Great Britain , 480 kg, Paliński, 470 kg and Bill March , USA, 460 kg

USA championships

• 1953, 3rd place, Ls, with 340 kg, behind Stanley Stanczyk , 415 kg and Dave Sheppard , 405 kg;
• 1956, 1st place, Ls, with 397.5 kg, ahead of Raymond, 382.5 kg;
• 1957, 2nd place, Ls, with 425 kg, behind Kono, 440 kg and in front of Sheppard, 410 kg;
• 1958, 1st place, Ls, with 400 kg, in front of Brewer, 370 kg;
• 1959, 1st place, Ls, with 410 kg, in front of stilts, 372.5 kg;
• 1961, 2nd place, Ms, with 425 kg, behind March, 432.5 kg

Web links

• James George in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )