Raymond Suvigny

Raymond Suvigny, 1932

Raymond Suvigny (born January 21, 1903 in Paris , † October 26, 1945 there ) was a French weightlifter .

Career

Raymond began lifting weights in Paris in 1919 . By 1923 he developed into a top French weightlifter. He set his first French record that year, which was to be followed by several world records in the course of his career. In 1923 and 1924 he became the Master of Paris and in later years he also became a French Master. On April 18, 1926, the first international match in the history of weightlifting took place in Mannheim between Germany and France . Raymond Suvigny represented the colors of France in featherweight. However, he was defeated by Eugen Mühlberger in four-way combat (one-armed tearing, two-armed pushing, tearing and pushing) with 311 kg: 320 kg. This international competition, and the one that followed in Paris in 1927, were milestones in the development of weightlifting, as a disc dumbbell with weights on ball bearings was used for the first time. From 1925 to 1927 there were no international championships.

In 1928 he reached a French record in the Olympic three-way battle with 280 kg, but could not start in Amsterdam due to an injury . However, he had already taken part in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 and started again in Los Angeles in 1932 . This start turned out to be his greatest triumph, as he became an Olympic featherweight champion (up to 60 kg body weight) with the then world record load of 287.5 kg. After Los Angeles, Raymond Suvigny ended his career. He died in 1945, barely 42 years old.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, EM = European Championship, Fe = featherweight, OD = Olympic three-way fight, FK = pentathlon, consisting of the OD + one-armed snatch and one-armed pushing)

• 1924, 9th place , OS in Paris , Fe, FK, with 365 kg, winner: Pierino Gabetti , Italy , 402.5 kg, ahead of Andreas Stadler , Austria , 385 kg;
• 1930, 3rd place , EM in Munich , Fe, OD, with 270 kg, behind Eugen Mühlberger , Germany , 280 kg and Hans Wölpert , Germany, 280 kg;
• 1932, gold medal , OS in Los Angeles , OD, Fe, with 287.5 kg, in front of Hans Wölpert, Germany, 282.5 kg and Anthony Terlazzo , USA , 280 kg.

World records

(all achieved in featherweight) in two-armed tearing:

• 90 kg, in 1926 in Paris.

in two-armed thrusting:

• 113 kg, 1926 in Paris.

in the Olympic three-way battle:

• 287.5 kg, 1932 in Los Angeles.

Web links

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