Weightlifting at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 90 kg explained

Event:	Men's 90 kg
Games:	1952 Summer
Venue:	Messuhalli
Date:	27 July 1952
Competitors:	20
Nations:	20
Win Label:	Winning total
Win Value:	445 kg
Gold:	Norbert Schemansky
Goldnoc:	USA
Silver:	Grigory Novak
Silvernoc:	URS
Bronze:	Lennox Kilgour
Bronzenoc:	TRI
Next:	1956

The men's 90 kg weightlifting competitions at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place on 27 July at Messuhalli.^[1] It was the first appearance of the middle heavyweight class (or, as it was listed in the 1952 Official Report, the "heavy lightweight" class). Previously all weightlifters above the light heavyweight (82.5 kg) class competed together in the heavyweight class; this new middle heavyweight class featured weightlifters between 82.5 kg and 90 kg.^[2]

Each weightlifter had three attempts at each of the three lifts. The best score for each lift was summed to give a total. The weightlifter could increase the weight between attempts (minimum of 5 kg between first and second attempts, 2.5 kg between second and third attempts) but could not decrease weight. If two or more weightlifters finished with the same total, the competitors' body weights were used as the tie-breaker (lighter athlete wins).^[1]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Press		143 kg		1952
	Snatch		133.5 kg	Milan, Italy	28 October 1951
	Clean & Jerk		175 kg	Milan, Italy	28 October 1951
	Total		427.5 kg	Milan, Italy	28 October 1951
Olympic record	Press	New event	–	–	–
	Snatch	New event	–	–	–
	Clean & Jerk	New event	–	–	–
	Total	New event	–	–	–

Results

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Body weight	Press (kg)				Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total
				1	2	3	Result	1	2	3	Result	1	2	3	Result
			90.00	122.5	127.5	130	127.5	130	135	140 142.5	140	165	172.5	177.5 182.5	177.5	445
			87.95	140	145	145	140	125	125	125	125	145	150	—	145	410
			89.40	120	125	130	125	112.5	120	122.5	120	147.5	155	157.5	157.5	402.5
4			89.25	110	115	115	110	117.5	122.5	125	125	150	160	162.5	162.5	397.5
5			87.95	112.5	117.5	117.5	112.5	120	120	125	120	150	155	160	155	387.5
6			88.75	107.5	112.5	112.5	107.5	115	120	125	125	152.5	170	170	152.5	385
7			87.35	102.5	107.5	107.5	107.5	112.5	117.5	117.5	112.5	145	150	152.5	150	370
8			89.30	112.5	117.5	117.5	112.5	105	110	115	110	140	145	150	145	367.5
9			89.75	95	100	105	100	110	115	117.5	117.5	140	145	150	150	367.5
10			87.45	102.5	107.5	110	107.5	110	115	115	110	132.5	142.5	147.5	147.5	365
11			89.70	107.5	112.5	115	112.5	102.5	107.5	107.5	107.5	137.5	142.5	147.5	142.5	362.5
12			89.05	107.5	112.5	112.5	107.5	102.5	110	110	110	140	145	145	140	357.5
13			89.80	100	105	105	100	112.5	120	120	112.5	135	142.5	145	142.5	355
14			89.95	92.5	97.5	102.5	97.5	107.5	112.5	112.5	112.5	140	145	150	145	355
15			89.55	95	100	102.5	102.5	100	107.5	107.5	100	135	142.5	147.5	142.5	345
16			89.95	90	95	97.5	95	97.5	102.5	102.5	102.5	127.5	132.5	135	132.5	330
17			89.55	117.5	117.5	117.5	117.5	110	115	115	110	142.5	142.5	142.5	—	227.5
18			89.10	105	105	110	110	110	115	115	110	—	—	—	—	220
19			89.40	107.5	112.5	112.5	107.5	97.5	97.5	105	105	130	130	130	—	212.5
20			90.00	110	115	115	110	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	110

New records

Because the weight class was new to the Olympics, there was certain to be an initial Olympic record in each lift as well as the total. Schemansky, however, broke his own world records from the 1951 World Weightlifting Championships in two of the lifts as well as the combined score. Novak, who had set the world record in the press earlier in the year at 143 kg, was not able to match that score but still led handily in that lift at 140 kg (12.5 kg over Schemansky's second-place 127.5 kg).

Press	140 kg
Snatch	140 kg
Clean & Jerk	177.5 kg
Total	445 kg

Notes and References

1. Official Report, p. 392.
2. Web site: Weightlifting at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Middle-Heavyweight . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418132359/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1952/WLT/mens-middle-heavyweight.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . Sports Reference . 25 December 2019.