Kenji Ōnuma

Kenji Ōnuma ( Japanese 大沼 賢治 , Ōnuma Kenji ; born March 12, 1931 ) is a former Japanese weightlifter and bodybuilder .

Life

When Ōnuma attended Waseda University in Tokyo in the early 1950s , he began rowing and also qualified for the university's rowing team. Since he was relatively small and light for a rower, he tried to compensate for this disadvantage by training with weights. In this way he met Minoru Kubota , who won him over to weightlifting and was his trainer for the next few years. At the beginning of 1954 he played his first competition and reached 305 kg in the Olympic three-way competition in the lightweight (then up to 67.5 kg body weight). In 1956 he managed in the Japanese Olympic elimination in the lightweight already 355 kg and was nominated for the Olympic Games in Melbourne , where he finished 4th and only missed a medal by 2.5 kg. He started out successfully as a weight lifter for a few more years. In 1958 he set a world record in pushing. He was also active as a bodybuilder. He was in this sport in 1954 and 1955 Japanese champion in the easy class.

Sporting successes

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, Le = lightweight)

• 1956, 4th place , OS in Melbourne , Le, with 367.5 kg, behind Igor Rybak , USSR , 380 kg, Rafael Schabutinow , USSR, 372.5 kg and Kim Chang He, Korea , 370 kg;
• 1958, 2nd place , Asian Games in Tokyo , Le, with 375 kg, behind Tan Howe Liang , Singapore , 375 kg and in front of Henryk Tamraz, Iran , 370 kg;
• 1958, 1st place , Int. USA Championship, Le, with 360 kg, ahead of Joe Pitman , USA , 350 kg;
• 1958, 1st place , tournament in Tokyo , Le, with 382.5 kg, ahead of Yamazaki, Japan, 372.5 kg and Yamaguchi, Japan, 355 kg;
• 1960, unplaced , OS in Rome , due to three unsuccessful attempts to press;
• 1961, 6th place , World Championships in Vienna , Le, with 372.5 kg, winner: Waldemar Baszanowski , Poland , 402.5 kg, ahead of Sergej Lopatin , USSR, 400 kg;
• 1962, 6th place , World Championships in Budapest , Le, with 367.5 kg, winner: Wladimir Kaplunow , USSR, 415 kg ahead of Baszanowski, 412.5 kg;
• 1963, 7th place , World Championships in Stockholm, Le, with 377.5 kg, winner: Marian Zielinski , Poland, 417.5 kg ahead of Baszanowski, 410 kg.

World record

in pushing:

• 155 kg, 1958 in Tokyo, Le.

literature

• "Athletik" trade journal from 1954 to 1964.

Web links

• Kenji Ōnuma in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )