Roland Lortz

Roland Lortz (born May 12, 1937 in Darmstadt , † April 14, 2007 in Groß -zimmer ) was a German weightlifter .

Career

Lortz grew up in the South Hessian wrestling stronghold of Groß-Zimmer and started wrestling with the AV "Vorwärts" Groß-Zimmer. Soon he showed great talent for weight lifting . At the age of 16 he was third in the German youth championships in weightlifting in 1953. In 1954 he was German youth champion and in 1955 German junior champion. As early as 1955, he set new German records in tearing and pushing the lightweight (up to 67.5 kg body weight). He had thus made it seamlessly from the youth class to join the top German class. He made the connection to the expanded world elite in 1956 when he was fourth at the European Championships. In qualifying for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome , he achieved his best performance in middleweight (up to 75 kg body weight) with 385 kg and was the only weightlifter from the Federal Republic to beat his competitor Gotthard Schulze from the GDR , who lifted 382.5 kg. In Rome, six weightlifters from the GDR, who received much more government funding than those from the Federal Republic, and Lortz represented the German colors in the all-German Olympic team.

Many injuries and the workload, he was a butcher in his parents' business, threw him back again and again. He therefore ended his career as a weightlifter at the age of 23 after the 1960 Olympic Games.

Lortz died after a serious illness on April 14, 2007 in Groß -zimmer. He was buried on April 18, 2007 in the local cemetery of Groß-Zimmer.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, Le = lightweight, Wed = middleweight)

• 1956, 4th place , EM in Helsinki , Le, with 345 kg, behind Nikolai Kostylew , USSR , 377.5 kg, Josef Tauchner , Austria , 357.5 kg and Luciano de Genova, Italy , 347.5 kg;
• 1957, 6th place , World Championships in Tehran , Wed, with 377.5 kg, winner: Thomas Kono , USA , 420 kg, ahead of Fjodor Bogdanowski , USSR, 420 kg;
• 1960, 8th place , OS in Rome , Wed, with 382.5 kg; Winner: Alexander Kurynow , USSR, 437.5 kg, ahead of Kono, 427.5 kg

German championships

• 1953, 3rd place , youth, up to 60 kg body weight, with 222.5 kg;
• 1954, 1st place , youth, up to 65 kg body weight, with 272.5 kg;
• 1955, 1st place , Juniors, Le, with 310 kg;
• 1955, 4th place , active, Le, with 327.5 kg, behind Oswald Junkes , Trier , 332.5 kg, Willi Kolb , Weilimdorf , 332.5 kg and Hans Neuhaus, Essen, 330 kg;
• 1956, 2nd place , active, Le, with 340 kg, behind Kolb, 347.5 kg and in front of Jakob Weil, Mainz , 330 kg;
• 1957, 1st place , active, Wed, with 375 kg, ahead of Alfred Hintz, Hanover , 372.5 kg and Konrad Schwarzbauer, Schrobenhausen , 360 kg;
• 1958, 1st place , Juniors, Wed, with 377.5 kg;
• 1958, 2nd place , active, Wed, with 375 kg, behind Hintz, 382.5 kg and in front of Schwarzbauer, 357.5 kg

German records

in two-armed tearing:

• 107.5 kg, 1955, Le,
• 110 kg, 1956, Le,
• 117.5 kg, 1957, Wed

in two-armed thrusting:

• 137.5 kg, 1955, Le,
• 140 kg, 1956, Le,
• 155 kg, 1957, Wed,
• 157.5 kg, 1960, Wed

in the Olympic three-way battle:

• 345 kg, 1956, Le,
• 377.5 kg, 1958, Wed,
• 385 kg, 1960, Wed

literature

• " Athletik " trade journal from 1953 to 1960

Web links

Roland Lortz in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )