Voldemar Noormägi (10 August 1895 – 10 April 1967) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n lightweight weightlifter who won a bronze medal at the 1922 World Championships and placed 22nd at the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1923–24, he set three unofficial world records in snatch. Noormägi was born deaf and was inspired to begin weightlifting in 1909, when an Estonian professional wrestler and weightlifter

Georg Lurich Georg Lurich ( – 20 January 1920) was an Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman of the early 20th century. Lurich was also the trainer of Estonian wrestlers and weightlifters Georg Hackenschmidt and Aleksander Aberg. Early life Born Geo ...

visited his school. Noormägi won the national lightweight title in 1923 and 1927, but at the 1924 World Championships, he injured his hand and failed to finish. While working as a photographer in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

and

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...

he became strongly religious and lost interest in sport, as he came to believe that sport is a sin.

References

1895 births 1968 deaths People from Kingisepp People from Yamburgsky Uyezd Olympic weightlifters of Estonia Weightlifters at the 1924 Summer Olympics Estonian male weightlifters People associated with physical culture World Weightlifting Championships medalists 20th-century Estonian people {{Estonia-weightlifting-bio-stub