Arnold Luhaäär (20 October 1905 – 19 January 1965) was an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

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heavyweight weightlifter. He competed in the

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and won a silver and a bronze medal, respectively. He missed the 1932 games because Estonia could not afford sending a full team to Los Angeles during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Luhaäär took up weightlifting in 1919 and won the national title in 1926, 1928, 1932–34 and 1936–38. In 1931 he also won the national

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

championships. Besides his Olympic medals he placed third at the 1938 World Championships and set a world record in the

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

in 1937. After retiring from competitions he worked as a sports official and referee. In 1935–40 and 1945–52 he was a board member of the Estonian Weightlifting Federation, and in 1946–48 headed sport club Spartak Tallinn. Since 1992 an annual weightlifting tournament has been held in his hometown of Mõisaküla in his honor.

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* * * * * * 1905 births 1965 deaths People from Mulgi Parish Sportspeople from Viljandi County People from Kreis Pernau Estonian male weightlifters Soviet weightlifters Olympic silver medalists for Estonia Olympic bronze medalists for Estonia Olympic weightlifters for Estonia Weightlifters at the 1928 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists {{Estonia-Olympic-medalist-stub