Republic Championship - THERE ARE, AND EVEN TWO!

03.06.1969 (Sports)

On Sunday, the heavyweight final of the weight categories concluded the republican championship at the Dinamo Sports Center.

An exciting fight was expected in the light heavyweight. Kārlis Pumpuriņš (Di) is in the top ten of this weight last year, club member Vilis Pērkons follows right behind him. Old and worthy opponents. In the clean and jerk, Vilis started more modestly, more carefully, 145 ... 152.5, also lifted 155 kg, but the judges had seen a mistake in the execution of the technique, and this weight was not counted. When the others finished, Kārlis said with 160 kg. The bar easily flew to his chest, easily rose above his head, but . . . the balance was broken, and the heavy discs thundered on the platform behind Pumpuriņš's back. Well, that happens to a great master too. The second attempt and . . . exactly the same. The faces of the spectators and the judges were amazed. Kārlis smiled, shrugged his shoulders and . . . asked to add 2.5 kg. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again for the third time. K. Pumpuriņš withdrew from the further fight for the champion title. Too bad. Apparently, the recently suffered injuries were to blame. Next, V. Pērkons went «solo march» towards the gold. Vilis won the triathlon and also in all individual events — 457.5 (152.5 + 135 + 170) kg. Behind him were V. Poimcevs (Da) with 412.5 (130 + 120 + 162.5) kg and ASK athlete H. Palume with 392.5 kg. When even the representatives of the second heavyweight had used all the approaches in the press, the first heavyweight athlete Valentīns Bročs (Di) went to the lift. 160 kg on the bar and . . unsuccessfully. Will Bročs «join» Pumpuriņš? The weight was fixed in the second attempt, and for the third attempt, Valentin's coach M. Fraifelds asked for 167.5 kg.

This is 2.5 kg more than the Latvian record held by Valentīnas himself. The excellent technical performance did not cause any objections to anyone. The first republican record of this championship was set at 167.5 kg! After the snatch, Valentīnas seemed a little tired. In the snatch, he “gave” the small gold medal to the calm, strong-willed veteran of the republican team, the Riga meat processing plant turner Guntis Kalnas (Da). Guntis’s strength was 130, Valentīnas’s 125 kg. However, in the clean and jerk, Valentīnas seemed to have gained a “second wind”. He lifted 182.5 kg and set a second Latvian record, this time in the triathlon total of 475 kg! So V. Bročs did the right thing by giving up the constant pursuit of weight and moving from light heavyweight to the first heavyweight. G. Kalns finished second in the triathlon with 440 (150 + 130 + 160), V. Kušnaryovs (ASK) was third with 400 kg.

In the second heavyweight, the start seemed intriguing. Favorite A. Sliede  (Di) lifted 152.5, V. Alksnītis (Vā) 147.5kg. The snatch roles were reversed — Alksnītis 135, Sliede 132.5 kg. The difference in total was only 2.5 kg. However, in the clean and jerk, RPI final-year student Arturs Sliede was undoubtedly superior. 175 against 165 kg. With a rather modest, but generally convincing 460 kg, Sliede once again remains the best in Latvia.  I guess the diploma work has taken its toll. . . V. Alksnītis collected 447.5 in the triple jump, the third participant in this weight class, J. Kukulis (Da), received a "zero" in the snatch and did not receive a total score.

What can be said about the championship as a whole? Excellently organized, but not at the right time and not at the right place. I have already talked about the time, now a little about the place. Year after year, the republic championship is held in Riga, in the "Dinamo" sports center? The premises are excellent, but ... there are no spectators. If a couple of dozen spectators "participate" in the competition at times, the atmosphere of the competition is lost. The strongmen themselves "complained" about this behind the scenes. The republican weightlifting federation should be reminded that in Latvia, besides Riga, there are other cities where the spectators are not so spoiled... jj Lasmanis