Karl Arnold (weightlifter)

Karl Arnold becomes East German middleweight champion in April 1963

Karl Arnold (born October 28, 1940 in Dittelsdorf , German Reich ; † February 28, 2012 ) was a German ( GDR ) weightlifter .

Career

Alongside Werner Dittrich and Manfred Rieger, Karl Arnold was the third German weightlifter from Zittau , who was led to the top of the world by his trainer Heinz Kahl in the 1960s. He started for BSG Motor Zittau (later BSG Robur Zittau ) and SC Einheit Dresden . The trained blacksmith, who trained as a sports teacher, stood on the podium of a GDR championship for the first time in 1959 when he took third place in the middleweight division of the juniors with 290 kg in the Olympic three-way fight. Through diligent training, he increased his performance by leaps and bounds in the next few years and in 1962 was the first GDR middleweight champion with 365 kg. Karl Arnold soon "cracked" the 400 kg limit and in 1969 even surpassed the ominous 500 kg limit. He celebrated the biggest victory of his career in 1969 at the Baltic Cup in Zinnowitz , where he managed to beat the newly crowned Olympic champion from Mexico City Kaarlo Kangasniemi from Finland in the middle heavyweight division . Karl Arnold achieved top positions in many international championships between 1966 and 1972. Strangely enough, he was no longer at the start at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , although he had achieved an excellent 4th place at the European Championships of the same year in Constanța and achieved the best result of his career with 525 kg.

International success

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

• 1964, 8th place , OS in Tokyo , Ls, with 440 (150.0, 135.0, 165.0) kg;
• 1966, 3rd place , Baltic Cup, Ls, with 450 kg, behind Wladimir Beljajew , USSR, 455 kg and Norbert Ozimek , Poland , 455 kg;
• 1966, 4th place ( 4th place ), WM + EM in Berlin, Ls, with 460 kg, behind Beljajew, 485 (147.5, 147.5, 190.0) kg, Győző Veres , Hungary , 485 (157.5, 137.5, 190.0) kg and Hans Zdražila , CSSR , 465 (145.0, 142.5, 177.5) kg;
• 1968, 3rd place , EM in Leningrad , Ls, with 465 (155.0, 135.0, 175.0) kg, behind Boris Selitsky , USSR , 472.5 (157.5, 140.0, 175.0) kg u Ozimek, 470 (155.0, 140.0, 175.0 ) kg;
• 1968, 5th place , OS in Mexico City , Ls, with 467.5 kg, behind Selitski, 485 (150.0, 147.5, 187.5) kg, Beljajew, 485 (152.5, 147.5, 185.0) kg, Ozimek, 472.5 (150.0, 140.0, 182.5) kg and Veres, 472.5 (150.0, 140.0, 182.5) kg;
• 1969, 1st place , Baltic Cup in Zinnowitz , Ms, with 507.5 kg, ahead of Kaarlo Kangasniemi , Finland , 500 kg and Bo Johansson , Sweden , 485 kg;
• 1970, 4th place , EM in Szombathely , Ms, with 505 kg, behind Kangasniemi, 530 (177.5, 160.0, 192.5) kg, Wassili Kolotow , USSR, 527.5 (170.0, 157.5, 200.0) kg and so on. Bo Johansson, 525 (177.5, 157.5, 190.0) kg; before G. Toth 500 (162.5, 147.5, 190.0)
• 1971, 6th place , EM in Sofia, Ms, with 487.5 kg, winner: David Rigert , USSR, 537.5 (172.5, 160.0, 205.0) kg, ahead of Bo Johansson, 537.5 (182.5, 155.0, 200.0 ) kg; Schopow 512.5 (172.5, 145.0, 195.0)
• 1972, 4th place , EM in Constanța , Ms, with 525 kg, behind Rigert, 557.5 (185.0, 165.0, 207.5) kg, Atanas Schopow, Bulgaria , 527.5 (177.5, 147.5, 202.5) kg and Andon Nikolow , Bulgaria, 535 (182.5, 152.5, 190.0) kg

Medals in individual disciplines

(were awarded from 1969)

• World Cup silver medal: 1969, press, Ms
• EM gold medal: 1970, press, Ms,
• EM silver medals: 1969, press, Ms - 1972, press, Ms

GDR championships

Karl Arnold was East German champion in 1962 and 1963 in middleweight, 1966, 1967 and 1968 in light heavyweight and 1970 and 1972 in middle heavyweight. In addition, he won 5 GDR championships in the individual disciplines from 1969 to 1972.

Web links

Commons : Karl Arnold  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Karl Arnold in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )