Charles Jean Rigoulot (3 November 190322 August 1962) was a French

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. These ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Background

Rigoulot was born in Le Vesinet, France and began to train with weights as a child. He was observed by weight trainer Jean Dame lifting heavy lithograph stones when Rigoulot was 16-years-old and Dame began to train and coach the teenager. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was imprisoned after hitting a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

officer, set free after France was liberated.

Weightlifting and strongman career

As a weightlifter he won the gold medal in the 82.5 kg division at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

. Between 1923 and 1926 he set eight official world records.Charles Rigoulot
chidlovski.net In 1924, he became the first person to clean and jerk more than 400 pounds, using the non-revolving barbells of that time. In 1928 he set two World Records; a clean and jerk of 360 lbs and a snatch of 253 lbs. In 1930, he became the first person to complete an overhead lift of the Apollon Railway Car Wheels, an awkwardly-shaped 166 kg (366 lb) barbell-shaped set of train wheels used by the stage strongman Louis Uni, and the predecessor of "Apollon's Axle".Charles Rigoulot
sports-reference.com In 1925 Rigoulot turned professional and worked as a strongman in the circus, an actor and singer in the theater. In the first year of his career as a professional weightlifter Rigolout took part in a show challenge against

Ernest Cadine Ernest Cadine (12 July 1893 – 20 May 1978) was a French weightlifter who won a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.Cirque d'hiver The Cirque d'Hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles Calvaires and rue Amelot, Paris 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musical concerts, and other events, i ...

in Paris. Cadine was the former Olympic champion of weightlifting in the 82,5 kg division at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

. They came to an agreement to do their contest in order of Olympic-style weightlifting with 10 attempts for each, 5 in snatch and 5 in

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

. Rigoulot won the challenge with 1.082,0 kg against 1.077,5 kg by Cadine and reached the highest two arms results with 120,5 kg in ''snatch'' and 156,0 kg in ''clean and jerk''. In 1932 he became a professional wrestler and was billed as "l'homme le plus fort dans le monde" ("the strongest man in the world") and had matches with

Henri DeGlane Henri Deglane (22 June 1902 – 7 July 1975) was a French wrestler. He was an Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling and AWA World Champion. In May 1931, Deglane faced Ed "Strangler" Lewis for the AWA World Heavyweight Champion ...

and

Strangler Lewis Robert Herman Julius Friedrich (June 30, 1891 – August 8, 1966), better known by the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was a four-t ...

. During

he was imprisoned after hitting a

officer..

Motorsports career results

As a driver, he competed in the 1937

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

race.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Later life

In 1953 he became sports director at the Cognac Distillery Ricard; he died of a heart attack in 1962. His daughter

Dany Rigoulot Dany Rigoulot (born January 13, 1944) is a former French figure skater who competed in ladies singles. She is the 1958-59 and 1961 French champion. Results References skatabase French female single skaters Olympic figure skaters for Fran ...

became an Olympic figure skater.

References

External links

Profile with pictures

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigoulot, Charles 1903 births 1962 deaths People from Le Vésinet French male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for France Olympic gold medalists for France Weightlifters at the 1924 Summer Olympics World record setters in weightlifting Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics People associated with physical culture Sportspeople from Yvelines