Rodney Adolphus Wilkes (11 March 1925 – 24 March 2014) was a weightlifter from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. Nicknamed "The Mighty Midget" he remained relatively unknown outside of local competition until he won the gold medal at the

1946 Central American and Caribbean Games The 5th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia, from 5 March to 25 March 1946. These games featured 1,540 athletes from thirteen nations, competing in seventeen sports. Sports * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

in Barranquilla, Colombia. His performance included record lifts of in the press, in the snatch and in the clean and jerk. He was selected to represent his country at the

1948 Olympics 1948 Olympics may refer to: *The 1948 Winter Olympics, which were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland *The 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an internation ...

in London where he competed in the featherweight division. At those Games he became the first athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to win an Olympic medal by taking the silver, behind Egyptian Mahmoud Fayad. Wilkes lifted a combined but Fayad set a new Olympic and World record of . In 1951 Wilkes won the featherweight gold medal at the first Pan American Games in Buenos Aires. The next year he was again selected for the Olympics in Helsinki. On this occasion he won the bronze medal behind

Rafael Chimishkyan Rafael Arkadyevich Chimishkyan ( ka, რაფაელ ჩიმიშკიანი, russian: Рафаэль Аркадьевич Чимишкян; 23 March 1929 – 25 September 2022) was a weightlifter who competed for the Soviet Union and ...

and Nikolai Saksonov, both of the Soviet Union. After a brief period of retirement in 1953 Wilkes returned to competition and won gold at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

in Vancouver; four years later he won bronze at Games in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Wilkes final Olympic appearance came at the 1956 Melbourne Games. He finished in fourth position with a combined lift of , missing out on a medal by one place and 5 kg. He continued competing until 1960 but retired for good when he failed to make the West Indies team for the Olympics in Rome. Following his retirement he became an electrician in his home city of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. Wilkes died of prostate cancer at a San Fernando hospital in 2014, aged 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkes, Rodney 1925 births 2014 deaths Trinidad and Tobago male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Trinidad and Tobago Weightlifters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Trinidad and Tobago Olympic bronze medalists for Trinidad and Tobago Olympic medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Trinidad and Tobago Pan American Games gold medalists for Trinidad and Tobago Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Pan American Games medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games