| Eduard Weitz | |
| Native Name: | אדוארד וייץ |
| Native Name Lang: | Hebrew |
| Birth Date: | 16 April 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Chernihiv, Soviet Union |
| Height: | 5-2.5 (160 cm) |
| Weight: | 130 lbs (59 kg) |
| Sport: | Weightlifting |
| Weight Class: | Men's Featherweight |
Eduard Weitz (אדוארד וייץ; also "Edward"; born April 16, 1946) is an Israeli former Olympic weightlifter.[1] [2] [3]
Weitz was born in Chernihiv, in the Soviet Union.[3] He was ranked in the top 5 in the Soviet Union, before he made aliyah (emigrated) to Israel in 1974.[3] [4]
He competed for Israel at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in Weightlifting—Men's Featherweight.[3] [5] Weitz placed 5th, with a combined lift of 578.7 pounds (262.5 kg; 110.0 kg in the snatch, and 152.5 kg in the clean and jerk), behind the bronze medalist Kazumasa Hirai of Japan's combined lift of 275.0 kg.[3] [6] [7] It was then the closest Israel had ever come to winning an Olympic medal.[8] At the time, he was 5–2.5 (160 cm) tall, and weighed 130 lbs (59 kg).[5]
Weitz won the gold medal in the featherweight division at the 1976 Asian Games, with a combined lift of 260 kg.[3] He was Israel's Sportsman of the Year that year.[3]
In 1998, Weitz was honored as one of the top 50 athletes in Israel's history.[3]