The men's one hand lift, an event similar to the modern snatch, was one of two weightlifting events in the weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.

Viggo Jensen Alexander Viggo Jensen (born 22 June 1874 in Copenhagen, Denmark; died 2 November 1930 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a Danish weightlifter, sport shooter, gymnast, and athlete. He was the first Danish and Nordic Olympic champion, at the 1896 Sum ...

, injured from the first event, was able to lift only enough to earn a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

while

Launceston Elliot Launceston Elliot (9 June 1874 – 8 August 1930) was a British weightlifter, and the first athlete representing the United Kingdom to become an Olympic champion. Biography Launceston Elliot was conceived in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia ...

far surpassed all of the other athletes in the field on his way to winning the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's first

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

of the Olympics. Alexandros Nikolopoulos lifted 57.0 kilograms with one hand, which would have put him in a tie with Jensen had he lifted the same weight with his other hand. He lifted only 40.0 kilograms with the other, but was awarded third place as

Sotirios Versis Sotirios Versis (, 1876 in Athens, Greece – 1919) was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris. Versis was born in Athens to a wealthy family, he studied a ...

could only lift 40.0 with either hand.

Prince George of Greece and Denmark Prince George of Greece and Denmark (; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of his cousin the future Em ...

, one of the judges, demonstrated his strength after the event by moving one of the heavy weights with ease after an assistant struggled to clear the weight from the competition area.Official Report, part two, p. 71.

Background

This was the only appearance of this one hand lift event. Somewhat similar events were held in other early Games: an all-around dumbbell event was held in 1904 and there were two one-hand lifts (snatch and clean & jerk) as part of the 1924 combined events. Top visiting weightlifters in Athens included

and Lawrence Levy of Great Britain and

of Denmark. Two Greek weightlifters competed as well. Levy withdrew after being informed that there would be no two-hand dumbbell event, though he served as a judge and assistant to Elliott.

Competition format

In the second weightlifting event, held soon after the first, only one hand was allowed in lifting the weights. Lifters had to perform the lift with each hand successively. The technique was similar to the modern snatch event. Lifters received three attempts. Each lifter performed one attempt before any began their second attempts. After each had lifted three times, the top three received three more attempts.Official Report, part two, p. 70.

Schedule

Results

References

External links

* (Digitally available a

* (Excerpt available a

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's one hand lift Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics, Men's one hand