John Basil Terpak (July 4, 1912 – June 1, 1993) was an American world champion

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 ...

Early life

Terpak's father was Ukrainian-born and worked in Pennsylvania's

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. Terpak pursued weightlifting in his youth and was noticed by Bob Hoffman in 1935 when he won the Junior Nationals lightweight class in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Hoffman recruited Terpak to work for

York Barbell York Barbell is an American-based international manufacturer of fitness products. Bob Hoffman, named "Father of World Weightlifting" by the International Weightlifting Federation, bought the Milo Barbell Company and founded York Barbell in 1932. ...

, where he became general manager in 1939.

Olympic results

Terpak finished 5th at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

and 4th at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

World Championship results

He won a gold medal at the 1937 World Weightlifting Championships and 1947 World Weightlifting Championships, a bronze medal at the 1938 World Weightlifting Championships, and a silver medal at the 1946 World Weightlifting Championships.

Coaching

Terpak was a U.S. Olympic coach in 1968 and 1972. He was also a coach for two-time Olympic champion

Charles Vinci Charles Thomas Vinci Jr. (February 28, 1933 – June 13, 2018) was an American weightlifter and Olympic champion. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Vinci was the United States Senior National Champion from 1954 to 1956 and from 1958 to 1961. He rece ...

. In December 1969, Terpak and weightlifters Bob Hoffman,

Joe Dube Joseph Douglas "Joe" Dube (born February 15, 1944) is an American weightlifter, world champion, Olympic Games medalist and strongman competitor. He won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and set two world records in the clean and press ...

, and Bob Bednarski from the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

met with President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

for seven minutes at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

along with Pennsylvania congressman

George Atlee Goodling George Atlee Goodling (September 26, 1896 – October 17, 1982) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Biography George Atlee Goodling was born in Loganville, Pennsylvania. During the First World War ...

Personal life

He was a vice president, CEO, and chairman of the board at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terpak, John 1912 births 1993 deaths American male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of the United States People associated with physical culture Sportspeople from Pennsylvania Weightlifters at the 1936 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1948 Summer Olympics World Weightlifting Championships medalists