GDR Latvian SSR Match - There is a "Five Hundred"!

25.11.1969 (Sports)

- Did you hear about the new world record in weightlifting?

- Is it one of ours?

- Yes. Gennady Ivanchenko. Just in the match with the GDR team, he lifted 492.5 kg in the triathlon.

Similar conversations were taking place in the editorial office from the very morning. We were really happy about the Riga strongman's success. But how did the others fare? We arranged a long-distance call with the editorial office of the GDR sports newspaper «Deutsches Sportecho». Collaborator Eberhard Bock came to the phone.

- Congratulations to the Latvian weightlifting family on the world record. Ivanchenko is great.

- Please tell us more about the competition.

- Unfortunately, I can only name the results. My specialty is athletics, but our weightlifting representative is not in the editorial office at the moment. The match took place in the Erfurt district city of Gräfenroda. The overall result was 5:3 in favor of the Latvian team.

But let's start from the beginning. In the lightweight category, your Anikins collected 312.5 kg in the triathlon. The GDR representative, Érihs Homilius, was 32.5 kg behind. In the light lightweight category, the GDR team had no participant, and Diņņikovs wrestled alone.

In lightweight, your record-breaking Lebedev was unsuccessful. He suffered an injury in the snatch and was forced to withdraw. Wolfgang Lläber reached 380 kg. In welterweight, Majāsins overtook Scholz by five kilograms. Anatoly's performance was 415 kg.

In the middleweight division, our Kluge was no match for Ivanchenko. He lost 47.5 kilograms in the triathlon.

- Do you have any results in individual exercises?

- Yes. 160 in the clean and jerk, 145 in the snatch, and 187.5 in the clean and jerk. 

- Excellent! These are new republic records in the snatch and clean and jerk.

- In light heavyweight, Kārlis Arnolds set a new GDR record of 502.5 kg. Pumpuriņš reached a "round" 500 kg.

- Our Kārlis is also a record holder. He is the first Latvian weightlifter to join the "five hundred" club. Please list your results in individual disciplines.

- 165 in the clean and jerk, 142.5 in the snatch, 192.5 in the clean and jerk.

And finally, the "heavy" men. In the first: the heavy was won by Vilis Pērkons with 490 kg and in the second heavy by Manfrēds Rīgers — 535 kg. Artūrs Sliede managed 492.5 kg.

- Really good harvest in the guest house. Thanks for the happy news.

Please! We'll wait for the Latvian strongmen again next time.

P. Karlsons