David Adamovich Rigert (russian: Давид Ада́мович Ри́герт; born 12 March 1947) is a retired Soviet

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 ...

and weightlifting coach of Austrian ancestry. During his career he set 65 ratified world records and won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and six world titles. In 1999 he was inducted to the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

Hall of Fame.

Family and early years

Rigert was the son of the Russian-German Adam Adamowitsch Rigert and Jelisaweta Rudolfowna Horn, and is Jewish. His grandfather Adam Rigert worked at the estate of Baron Rudolf Horn, an officer of the czar. Baron Horn's daughter Lisbeth married Adam Rigert's son Adam. 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 ...

his father was brought to the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

as forced laborer, together with other Russians of German ancestry, and his mother and children were brought to North

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. David and his eight siblings grew up in

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

territory near the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

. Rigert initially trained as a boxer, but then, motivated by the

Yury Vlasov Yury Petrovich Vlasov (russian: Юрий Петрович Власов; 5 December 1935 – 13 February 2021) was a Russian heavyweight weightlifter, writer and politician. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a gold medal in 1960 a ...

's victory at the 1960 Olympics, changed to weightlifting. After serving in the Soviet Army, he moved to

Shakhty Shakhty ( rus, Шахты, p=ˈʂaxtɨ) is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the southeastern spur of the Donetsk mountain ridge, northeast of Rostov-on-Don. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 239,987. It was previously kn ...

, to train with

Rudolf Plyukfelder Rudolf Vladimirovich Plyukfelder (russian: Рудольф Владимирович Плюкфельдер, born 6 September 1928) is a retired Soviet weightlifter and weightlifting coach. As a competitor he won world titles in 1959 and 1961 and ...

. In Shakhty Rigert worked as a coal miner. Rigert is married to Nadezhda, a former competitive javelin thrower. They have three sons, Viktor, Vladislav and Denis, they all became competitive weightlifters.КАК ЛЕГЕНДАРНЫЙ ШТАНГИСТ СТАЛ ФЕРМЕРОМ
kg-rostov.ru (an interview with Rigert in Russian) Rigert is an avid smoker, since the age of 11.Vasilyev, Yuri (13 August 2001
НЕ ПИЩАТЬ. НЕ СКУЛИТЬ. НЕ ЖАЛОВАТЬСЯ
sport-express.ru

Career

Rigert began practicing weightlifting on his own in 1966, using the training methods of former Soviet weightlifting champion

Arkady Vorobyov Arkady Nikitich Vorobyov (russian: Аркадий Никитич Воробьёв; 3 October 1924 – 22 December 2012) was a Soviet and Russian weightlifter, weightlifting coach, scientist and writer. He competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olym ...

. Two years later, while serving in the

Soviet army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

, Rigert earned the title

Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

. After demobilization he lived and trained in Armavir. In 1969 he met the famous Soviet coach

, who invited him to

, where Rigert began training at Trud Voluntary Sports Society under Plyukfelder. Just 11 months later, in 1970, Rigert was included into the Soviet national team and debuted internationally, earning a bronze medal at the world championships. In 1971 at the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Championships, Rigert set his first world record. Thus began an extraordinary series of 65 world records, which was exceeded only by the fellow weightlifter Vasiliy Alekseyev. After a disappointing performance at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, in 1973 Rigert won in all competitions he participated, setting eight world records. He won all world and European championships between 1973 and 1976, and earned a gold medal at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. Despite these achievements during his career, his final performance was disappointing: scoring zero at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. For those Games Rigert moved to a lighter bodyweight class, from under 100 kg to under 90 kg. As a result of the rapid weight loss, he tore his leg muscle. After retiring from competitions Rigert moved to

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

and later to

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog The ...

. He coached, studied at The Moscow Institute of Physical Culture, manufactured weights for

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

competitions and built some 100 sport facilities in Taganrog. He also created a weightlifting center in Taganrog and prepared the Russian National Team for the 2004 Olympics. In 2004 Rigert was elected deputy of the Taganrog City Council (Duma), and in March 2009 he was reelected as deputy of the Taganrog Duma, representing the

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...

political party. Rigert is a

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Taganrog,

Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a pop ...

and

Chornomorsk Chornomorsk ( uk, Чорномо́рськ, ), formerly Illichivsk (, translit. ''Illichivs'k''), is a city in Odesa Raion, Odesa Oblast (province) of south-western Ukraine, dependent on the Port of Chornomorsk. The city is located around the ...

. Rigert was awarded

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

in 1976. In 1999 he was inducted into the

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

References

External links

World records and biography of David Rigert
*
Biography and photo

David Rigert Hall of Fame – Weightlifting Exchange
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigert, David 1947 births Living people Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in weightlifting Olympic weightlifters for the Soviet Union People from North Kazakhstan Region Sportspeople from Taganrog Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II class Russian and Soviet-German people Russian male weightlifters Soviet male weightlifters Weightlifters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1976 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1980 Summer Olympics World Weightlifting Championships medalists Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism alumni

Family and early years

Career

See also

References

External links