Robert Kabbas (born 15 March 1955, in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

) is a retired

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 ...

from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, who won the silver medal in the Lightheavyweight (82.5 kg) category at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. Kabbas has been one of the most successful weightlifters to represent Australia at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He went to three Olympic Games: Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. He was the first of only two Australian weightlifters to compete at three Olympics. The LA Olympics were one of the highlights of Kabbas' career as he lifted a personal best of 342.5 kg and set a Commonwealth record. Winning medals at three Commonwealth Games: Edmonton 1978 (Gold Medal), Brisbane 1982 (Gold Medal) and Edinburgh 1986 (Silver Medal), he was also the best weightlifter across all weight classes at

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. Kabbas remains in the sport, still coaching and developing athletes. Kabbas became president of the Australian Weightlifting Federation in October 2007.

Notes and references

Living people 1955 births Weightlifters at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Egyptian emigrants to Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic weightlifters of Australia Sportspeople from Alexandria Weightlifters at the 1976 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1980 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in weightlifting Australian male weightlifters Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia 20th-century Australian people Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games {{Australia-weightlifting-bio-stub