Pete George
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Peter T. George (June 29, 1929 – July 27, 2021) was an American
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 lif ...
and Olympic and World champion. He was later an
assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree A docto ...
of stomatology. Because of his ethnic origin, and despite the long list of Bulgarian weightlifters with Olympic medals, he was the first Bulgarian to win Olympic gold.


Biography

His Bulgarian parentsThe cited source describes his parents first as "Macedonian immigrants" and then as ""Bulgarian immigrants"The author describes his parents and himself as "Bulgarians" stating that "Macedonian" is simply a geographic designation: ''My parents, however were Bulgarians born in Macedonia. I, therefore must say, my nationality is Bulgarian''. Trayan and Paraskeva Taleff originated from Bitola, from where they immigrated to the U.S. in 1929. His father was an activist of the
Macedonian Patriotic Organization Macedonian Patriotic Organization (MPO) is the oldest organization of Americans and Canadians of Macedonian descent in North America. It was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, in 1922, by Macedonian Bulgarian immigrants originating mainly fro ...
and both his parents were members of the Macedono-Bulgarian St. Elia the Prophet Orthodox Church (Akron, Ohio). Born in
Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...
, George was the first 15-year-old to clean and jerk 300 lbs and was the youngest senior state champion of Ohio at 14 and 1/2. His brother
Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...
is also weightlifter. Pete won a gold medal at the
1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
."1952 Summer Olympics - Helsinki, Finland - Weightlifting"
- ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on February 22, 2008).
George also received silver medals 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 ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,"1948 Summer Olympics - London, United Kingdom- Weightlifting"
- ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on February 22, 2008).
and at the 1956 Summer Olympics in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
."1956 Summer Olympics - Melbourne, Australia - Weightlifting"
- ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on February 22, 2008).
He also won five World Championships outside of the Olympics in 1947, 1951, 1953, 1954, and 1955. George placed second at the World Championships in 1949 and 1950, making a total of ten medals in World and Olympic competition. He also set four world records, three in the clean and jerk, and one in the total. After retiring from athletics, he attended Kent State University, the Ohio State University, and Columbia University. George became an orthodontist and served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii. He pioneered treatments for obstructive
sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep occur more often than normal. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many tim ...
. He held the patent for the Nocturnal Airway Patency Appliance (NAPA), a device preventing the stoppage of breathing during sleep. After retirement, George used to spend summertime in the birthplace of his wife, Ognyanovo, Blagoevgrad Province,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. He is also described sometimes as a
Macedonian American Macedonian Americans ( mk, Македонски Американци, Makedonski Amerikanci) are Americans of ethnic Macedonian heritage. History Review Macedonian national feelings had shifted throughout the 20th century. According to the ''H ...
, and thus in 1993 George was awarded the Macedonian Hall of Fame Award by the Macedonian Businessmen's Club in Akron, Ohio.Macedonian Businessmen's Club
/ref>


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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Peter 1929 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio American male weightlifters Weightlifters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in weightlifting Olympic silver medalists for the United States in weightlifting American people of Bulgarian descent Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in weightlifting People associated with physical culture American dentists Macedonian Bulgarians 20th-century American inventors Weightlifters at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games American people of Macedonian descent