Josef Grafl (weightlifter)

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Josef Grafl

Josef Grafl (* 1872 in Vienna ; † November 15, 1915 in Tribuswinkel near Baden) was an Austrian weightlifter . He was a multiple world heavyweight champion and one of the pioneers of modern weightlifting.

Career

Josef Grafl grew up in Vienna and has been involved in heavy athletics (wrestling and weightlifting) from an early age. But he was already over 30 years old when he achieved weightlifting performances that made him a multiple world and European champion. Josef Grafl weighed approx. 115 kg and therefore always started in the heavyweight division, which at that time already started at 80 kg or 85 kg. Weightlifting at that time was less about technique than about strength. At times it was even forbidden to change the position of the legs when tearing or moving (lunge, squat). One- and two-armed exercises were performed. Furthermore, there was no free implementation, but it was implemented in several tempis. In contrast to today, where there is only one duel (two-armed tearing and pushing) in weightlifting, there were diverse combinations in the competitions at that time. This went from triathlon to decathlon.

Josef Grafl's top performance is said to have been 142.5 kg with both arms and 175 kg with both arms. In two-armed tearing he held the Austrian record with 117 kg until 1936. Only in that year it was exceeded by Josef Zeman.

In 1904 Josef Grafl took part in an international championship for the first time, the world championship in Vienna. A decathlon was held there and he finished second with 800.5 kg behind his compatriot Josef Steinbach , who achieved 852 kg.

In 1908 Josef Grafl became world heavyweight champion for the first time in Vienna. A heptathlon was held, in which he scored 645 kg. At the World Championships in 1909, which took place again in Vienna, he beat in a pentathlon with 583.1 kg Karl Swoboda , who achieved 533.4 kg, and Berthold Tandler , who reached 525.4 kg. All three athletes came from Vienna, from which one can see that the weightlifting elite in the years before the First World War came mainly from Austria . Only the German weightlifters were able to stand up to the Austrians from time to time. Round dumbbells were used for lifting, disc dumbbells were only used later.

In 1910 Josef Grafl was successful at two world championships. In Düsseldorf he won a four-way fight with 460 kg in front of the German Heinrich Rondi and in Vienna he won a six-way fight with 753.5 kg in front of Karl Swoboda and Berthold Tandler.

In 1911 Josef Grafl also took part in two world championships. In Stuttgart he won with 471.5 kg ahead of Heinrich Rondi and Heinrich Schneidereit . In Vienna, however, he had to surrender in a four-way battle with 474 kg to his compatriot Karl Swoboda, who scored 476.5 kg.

In 1913 Josef Grafl became world champion for the last time in a four-way battle with 442.5 kg in Vienna. He won there ahead of Berthold Tandler and Jan Krause from Russia .

Josef Grafl never took part in the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Intermediate Games in Athens in 1906 Josef Steinbach represented the colors of Austria and at the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1912 there were no weightlifting competitions.

Josef Grafl, who was an innkeeper in Vienna, died of cardiac arrest in 1915.

International success

(WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, S = Heavyweight)

  • 1904, 2nd place , World Cup in Vienna , 10-fight, S, with 800.5 kg, behind Josef Steinbach , Austria , 852 kg a. before Johann Staudinger, Austria, 782.5 kg;
  • 1907, 1st place , EM in Vienna, 3-fight, S, with 380.5 kg;
  • 1908, 1st place , World Championship in Vienna, 7-fight, S, with 645 kg, in front of Berthold Tandler , Austria, 631 kg a. Edmund Danzer, Austria, 587 kg;
  • 1909, 1st place , EM in Malmö , 5-fight, S, with 528.5 kg;
  • 1909, 1st place , World Championship in Vienna, 5-fight, S, with 583.1 kg, in front of Karl Swoboda , Austria, 533.4 kg u. Berthold Tandler, 525.4 kg;
  • 1910, 1st place , World Championship in Düsseldorf , 4-fight, S, with 460 kg, ahead of Heinrich Rondi , Germany and Berthold Tandler;
  • 1910, 1st place , World Championship in Vienna, 6-fight, S, with 753.5 kg, in front of Karl Swoboda, 723 kg a. Berthold Tandler, 685 kg;
  • 1911, 1st place , World Championship in Stuttgart , 4-fight, S, with 471.5 kg in front of Heinrich Rondi and Heinrich Schneidereit , bde. Germany;
  • 1911, 2nd place , EM in Budapest , 3-fight, S, with 310 kg behind Berthold Tandler;
  • 1911, 2nd place , World Championship in Vienna, 4-fight, S, with 464 kg, behind Karl Swoboda, 476.5 kg a. before Berthold Tandler, 420.8 kg;
  • 1913, 1st place , World Championship in Breslau , 4-fight, with 442.5 kg, in front of Berthold Tandler, 442.5 kg a. Jan Krause , Russia

swell

  • Anniversary publication 100 years of weightlifting in Germany , published by the Federal Association of German Weightlifters, 1991.
  • From the history of German strength sports , published by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Alten Athleten Deutschlands, 1950.
  • Website "www.sport-komplett.de",
  • Website of the Austrian Weightlifting Association,
  • Website "www.chidlovski.net"

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sport im Bild, No. 49, 1915, p. 604.
personal data
SURNAME Grafl, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian weightlifter
DATE OF BIRTH 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1915
Place of death Tribuswinkel near Baden