Rudolf Schilberg

Picture on his grave at the Vienna Central Cemetery

Rudolf Schilberg (born September 29, 1894 in Vienna ; † July 30, 1961 there ) was an Austrian weightlifter . In 1929 and 1930 he was Vice European Heavyweight Champion.

Career

Rudolf Schilberg grew up in Vienna . He only came into contact with weightlifting after the First World War , i.e. at a time when he was already over 20 years old. The Austrian weightlifters set the tone in the world between 1900 and the beginning of the First World War. The heavyweights in particular achieved one success after another during this time. The names Josef Grafl , Josef Steinbach , Karl Swoboda and Berthold Tandler should be remembered. Rudolf Schilberg followed in the footsteps of these great lifters together with Josef Leppelt in the mid-1920s , although he was not quite as successful on the international lift stage. He belonged to the heavy athletics club Germania Vienna .

Rudolf Schilberg lived off his strength throughout his weightlifting career. With the technical exercises, especially the two-armed tearing, he was at war. If he had only been a little stronger at this, he would certainly have received even greater successes. It is therefore not surprising that his first performance, which attracted international attention, was a world record in two-armed pushing. He achieved this on March 18, 1926 in Vienna with 122.5 kg, surpassing the old world record set by Josef Alzin from Luxembourg by 2 kg. Over the next few years, he screwed this world record to 133 kg, which he achieved in Vienna in 1930.

Rudolf Schilberg was not yet able to qualify for participation in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris . Therefore, the victory at the German fighting games in Munich in 1926 was his first major success. He defeated it in the heavyweight pentathlon with 530 kg Josef Straßberger from Munich, the world champion from 1920 and European champion from 1921 and the future Olympic champion from 1928, who came to 525 kg. That was the first defeat that Straßberger suffered in a championship after 1920. Rudolf Schilberg could not take part in other international championships between 1924 and 1928 because simply none took place.

Rudolf Schilberg was then at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928 and achieved 4th place in the heavyweight division with 355 kg in the Olympic three-way fight. Up to the silver medal he was only 5 kg short. The first medal win at an international championship he succeeded in the 1929 European championship in Vienna. Here he achieved 360 kg in the Olympic three-way fight and was second behind Josef Straßberger, who achieved 372.5 kg.

He took the same place at the European Championships in 1930 in Munich . He achieved 370 kg in the Olympic three-way fight and had the satisfaction of referring Josef Straßberger, who also achieved 370 kg, to 3rd place due to his lower body weight. Neither of them came close to the winner, the Egyptian Sayed Nosseir , who took part in these championships as a guest , who achieved a weak 375 kg for him.

At the Austrian championship in Vienna in 1931, Rudi Schilberg achieved the best performance of his career in the Olympic three-way fight with 380 kg (130-105-145 kg). At the European Championships in Luxembourg in 1931 , however, he had to give up before the two-arm thrusting due to an injury, so that he remained unplaced in this championship. He could not take part in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles because the Austrian Weightlifting Association did not have the money to send him to Los Angeles. He was also absent from the European Championships in Essen in 1933 , as was the entire Austrian team, because the Austrian Weightlifting Association did not send a team to Germany for political reasons after the Nazis came to power in Germany .

At the European Championships in Genoa in 1934 , Rudi Schilberg, now 40 years old, competed again. He achieved 357.5 kg in the three-way fight and thus reached 5th place in the heavyweight division. He also saw the star of the German Josef Manger rise, who became Olympic champion in Berlin in 1936 and competed for the first time in an international championship in Genoa in 1934.

At the end of his career, Rudolf Schilberg started again at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. He had brought himself into good shape and achieved a good result with 372.5 kg in the Olympic three-way fight, which was only enough for 8th place.

Rudolf Schilberg's best performances in the individual disciplines were 133 kg in two-armed pushing, 107.5 kg in two-armed snatch and 150 kg in two-armed pushing.

After his active career, Rudolf Schilberg remained loyal to weightlifting. He became chairman of Vienna in the Austrian Weightlifting Association and, after 1950, was a sports manager in the Austrian Weightlifting Association for many years. As such, he was one of the organizers of the World Championships, which took place in Vienna in 1954 and 1961.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, EM = European Championship, FK = pentathlon, OD = Olympic three-way fight, S = heavyweight, then over 82.5 kg body weight)

• 1926, 1st place , German fighting games in Cologne , FK, S, with 530 kg, in front of Josef Straßberger , Munich , 525 kg a. Otto Österlin, Karlsruhe , 490 kg;
• 1928, 4th place , OS in Amsterdam , OD, S, with 355 kg, behind Josef Straßberger, Germany , 372.5 kg, Arnold Luhaäär , Estonia , 360 kg and Jaroslav Skobla , Czechoslovakia , 357.5 kg, in front of Josef Leppelt , Austria , 355 kg;
• 1929, 1st place , intern. Championship of Bohemia a . Moravia in Zlín , OD, S, with 350 kg, in front of Jaroslav Skobla, 345 kg a. Stropek, Austria, 300 kg;
• 1929, 2nd place , EM in Vienna , OD, S, with 360 kg (122.5-102.5-135), behind Joser Straßberger, 372.5 kg a. before Jaroslav Skobla, 350 kg;
• 1930, 2nd place , German fighting games in Breslau , OD, S, with 360 kg (125-100-135), behind Josef Straßberger, 370 kg (125-105-140) and before Ernst Krebs, Austria, 345 kg;
• 1930, 2nd place , EM in Munich , OD, S, with 370 kg (127.5-107.5-135), behind Sayed Nosseir , Egypt , 375 kg (105-120-150) and in front of Josef Straßberger, 380 kg (120-110-140);
• 1931, unpl. , EM in Luxemburg , OD, S, retired due to injury after 120 kg in pushing and 105 kg in snatch; Winner: Sayed Nosseir with 395 kg in front of Nikolaus Ries , Germany, 367.5 kg u. Josef Straßberger, 365 kg;
• 1934, 5th place , EM in Genoa , OD, S, with 357.5 kg (120-102.5-135) behind Vaclav Psenicka , Czechoslovakia, 395 kg, Josef Manger , Germany, 382.5 kg, Josef Straßberger, 382.5 kg u. Dumoulin, France , 357.5 kg;
• 1936, 8th place , Olympic Games in Berlin , OD, S, with 372.5 kg (125-107.5-140); Winner: Josef Manger, 410 kg in front of Vaclav Psenicka, 402.5 kg a. Arnold Luhaäär, 402.5 kg

Austrian championships

Rudolf Schilberg was Austrian heavyweight champion many times. His victories in 1930: 372.5 kg, 1931: 380 kg a. 1933: 362.5 kg each in the Olympic three-way fight.

World records

• 1926 in Vienna, 122.5 kg when pressed with both arms,
• 1928 in Vienna, 126 kg in two-armed press,
• 1929 in Vienna, 128 kg with both arms pressed,
• 1929 in Vienna, 130 kg in two-armed press,
• 1930 in Vienna, 133 kg in two-armed pushing

swell

• Trade journal Athletics , numbers 45/1929, 49/1930, 42/1931, 46/1934, 31/32/1936, 12/1950, 18/1961 and 9/1967.
• Website "www.sport-komplett.de"

Web links

• Rudolf Schilberg in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Rudolf Schilberg in Top Olympic Lifters of the 20th Century
• Team photo with Rudolf Schilberg