Arthur Drechsler © 2024
For those who were active in the Iron Game during the mid to late 1960’s, especially in the US, one weightlifting star shined more brightly than perhaps all the others. It was the man who Strength and Health editor, multi-time Olympic coach, Bob Hoffman, named “The Ninth Wonder” – Bob Bednarski.
Bob was a true phenomenon, who had more charisma than any other lifter I have ever had the pleasure of seeing perform. But his dominance was fleeting and his descent from the perch on Mt. Olympus that he once enjoyed was nearly as rapid as his rise. His story is at once a wondrous example of the magic that one person can conjure when hitting on all cylinders, while at the same time an apocryphal tale of how fast one can fall from greatness when conditions change.
The Beginning
Bob Bednarski began his weightlifting career at the age of 15. It was at this time that he made his first attempt to see what he could lift. The outcome of that test was to offer little evidence of the greatness he was to achieve. At a bodyweight of 125 pounds, he struggled to lift 90 lb. overhead, not a bad result, but certainly nothing extraordinary. Yet that struggle to raise 90 lb. developed in the young man an almost instant affinity for the barbell and, almost immediately, Bob began train seriously.
His body adapted very rapidly to his training and nine months after his first attempt at lifting a barbell, Bednarski decided to enter the Rhode Island State Weightlifting Championships. His bodyweight had increased significantly by this time, so he competed in the 148 lb. bodyweight category. He managed to press and snatch 170 lb., then C&J 215 lb.
This was very respectable lifting for an athlete with such limited experience and it earned him a second place finish, to a former National Champion. But, more importantly (as future years were to demonstrate), Bob’s performance led to his finding a coach who would be with him much of the rest of his career.
It was the very man who had defeated Bednarski at the State Championships – Joe Mills. A legendary coach in the New England area, Joe was highly respected nationwide. Mills was impressed with the enthusiasm of this youngster. He was soon teaching Bob the finer points of lifting at Joe’s own Central Falls Weightlifting Club.
Under Joe’s tutelage, Bob continued to gain bodyweight while improving his technique. Within months, he moved his three lift total up to 700 pounds, for a Rhode Island State record in the 165 lb. bodyweight category.
His bodyweight continued to increase as he grew (Bob was to reach a height of 6’1”), so he moved up to the 181 lb. category. The new bodyweight agreed with him and he soon broke all the New England teenage records in that category, including a 275 lb.press, which was a Sr. New England record as well as a Teenage record.
In May of 1964, Bednarski won the Jr. Nationals with a 900 lb. total and was named best lifter overall. His total was a new Teenage American Record.
A month later, he competed in his first National Championships. While he failed to make a total, he did press 307 lb. for a new Junior World Record. Before turning 20, Bob pressed 321 lb. for another Junior World Record, snatched 270 lb. and made a 340 lb. C&J, for a total of 930 lb.
By November of 1964, his total had increased to 960 lb., which was enough to win the North American Championships. Buoyed by garnering this prestigious title, he returned home and trained harder than ever, increasing his press to 330 lb., his snatch to 290 lb. and his C&J to 380 lb. His progress was so outstanding that Strength & Health (S&H) magazine featured Bob in their “Lifter’s Corner” early in 1965 – a sort of coming out celebration for fast rising lifters.
During an interview published as part of the article, Bednarski predicted that he’d give a tussle to Bill March, at the upcoming 1965 Nationals. More importantly, in a hint that the fearless nature that Bob was to become famous for, he said “However, even if I am able to win the championship of my own country, I will not be satisfied until it become the best mid-heavyweight lifter. In 1968 I plan to total in excess of 1100 pounds, which I’m sure will necessary for victory” (at the Olympic Games).
Bob did not perform well at the 1965 Nationals, totaling only 950 lb., which was well below his best. But as was typical for Bob at this stage in his career, a setback led to his developing even more determination to succeed.
He soon decided he needed to increase his bodyweight once again, to move into the heavyweight division. Bednarski reasoned that extra bodyweight, and a greater focus on squatting, would boost his lifts substantially. He also recognized the need to eliminate some of the flaws that he then had in his technique. He believed the resulting combination of greater strength and better technique would lead him to greatness, and he was right.
At that time, there was only one bodyweight category above the 90 kg. division – heavyweight. Most lifters balked at moving up from 90 kg. to heavyweight, as the weights needed to excel in that unlimited bodyweight category were much higher than those needed to be competitive in the 90 kg. category.
But there was another reason some avoided the heavyweight class. At that time, on a world level, that category was dominated by a 6’5”, 160 kg., giant named Leoinid Zhabotinsky, who many felt was invincible. Nevertheless, Bob’s move to the heavyweight division soon proved to be a good one.
Bednarski’s strength improved dramatically as his bodyweight increased. His metoric improvements were reported regularly in S&H magazine, inspiring all who read about them (as one who did, I can attest to that firsthand).
By October of 1965, Bednarski had moved his total up to more than 1100 lb., via a 360 lb. press, a 326 lb. snatch and a 417 lb. C&J, at a bodyweight of just over 220 lb.
A month later, at a bodyweight of 225 lb, Bob pressed 381 lb, snatched 340 lb. and made a C&J with 441 lb. At this point, he was again interviewed by S&H and was asked for another prediction regarding his future lifting at a higher bodyweight. He opined that if there is a 242 lb. division added to the Olympic schedule, he would compete there.
However, he indicated that if only the unlimited division was available he would increase his bodyweight to approximately 250 lb. and would press 420 lb., snatch 390 lb. and lift 500 lb. in the C&J. It’s amazing how close this “wild” prediction (as most viewed it at the time) turned out to be.
In late 1965, Bob relocated to York, PA, to train at the famous York Barbell Co. gym, and work for the company. And he seemed to flourish in his new environment. By January of 1966, Bob’s best lifts had improved to: to 381 lb. in the press, 350 lb. in the snatch and 446 1/2 lb. in the C&J.
In March, he competed in the Eastern States Championships, pressing a relatively low 355 lb., but snatching 345 lb. and lifting 430 lb. in the C&J, for a total of 1130 lb. He also shouldered an American Record exceeding, 450 lb. in the clean, but could not stand up from the squat position.
Bednarski repeated the same total at the National Championships that year, to earn second place position to Gary Gubner. However, he did succeed with a C&J of 445 lb., which weighed out at 446 1/2 pounds, enough for a new American record.
Except for the C&J, Bob’s lifts were well below his bests. Bob Hoffman, who wrote a report on the Nationals in S&H magazine, speculated about Bednarski’s weak nerves in competition.
Weeks later, Bednarski raised his total once again by making lifts of 407 lb. in the press, 342 lb. in the snatch and 452 lb. in the C&J, at a bodyweight of 238lb.
Lifting at the North American Championships shortly thereafter, Bob pressed 375 lb. and snatched 340 lb. Those lifts placed him behind the man who had defeated him at that year’s Nationals, the silver medallist from the 1965 World Championships, Gary Gubner.
By the time Gary was finished lifting, Bob needed a C&J of 440 lb. to defeat the powerful Gubner and Bob came through to make that lift under pressure. It was the first time Bob had done what he needed in the heat of a close competition in a long time. His performance earned him a spot on the two man team that would represent the USA at the 1966 World’s Championships in East Berlin.
In Berlin, Bob shined. He finally pressed 182.5 kg., snatched 160 kg. and made 195 kg. in the C&J. Those lifts earned Bob and gold medal in the snatch and a silver medal, overall, in the heavyweight division, second to the great Zhabotinsky. In recognition for his fabulous improvements and high placing at the Worlds, Bob was selected for the S&H magazines’ inaugural “Lifter of the Year” award (covering the year of 1966).
An Early End to Such a Promising Career?
In January of 1967, Bob sustained a minor injury to his elbow, but by the National Championships in June, he was back in good form. He pressed 410 lb., snatched 330 lb. and made 435 lb. in the C&J to win his first National championship, and clinch a berth on that year’s Pan American Games team.
Prior to the Pan Am’s, the news from York was that Bob was ready to put up the biggest lifts of his life and show the giant Zhabotinsky that he was closing in fast. At the Pan American’s, Bednarski pressed a personal record 418 ¾ lb., suggesting that the reports on his condition had not been exaggerations. He then snatched his opening 330 ¾ lb.
But on his next attempt, after lifting 347 ¼ lb. overhead, he struggled to control the weight, which was out of position and falling behind him. That resulted in a severe elbow dislocation.
Bob’s 1968 Olympic dream, if not his career, seemed over. Experts at the time gave Bob little chance for recovery, and one of the major weightlifting publishers and writers of the time went so far as to say that such was the inevitable fate of someone who tried to challenge the great heavyweights at such a relatively diminutive bodyweight.
When Detroit’s Russell Wright, one of the premier sports medicine experts in the world of that time, examined Bob, he didn’t have the heart to tell the young man that it appeared 80% of the ligaments that supported Bob’s elbow had been seriously damaged by the accident at the Pan Am’s.
While doc Wright encouraged Bob as he provided some physical therapy to the young athlete, the doctor privately told Dick “Smitty” Smith (York Barbell’s trainer at the time) that Bob’s career was effectively over (and Wright was known as an optimist when it came to treating sports injuries).
An Incredible Comeback Begins
After Bob returned from his visit with Wright, the local York physician who had taken over Bob’s case from Wright forbid him to lift until further notice. But Bednarski was eager to train, so Smitty had Bob pressing the empty bar overhead and doing leg work almost immediately.
Over a period of several weeks, the strength and mobility in Bob’s elbow improved dramatically, to the point where he pressed 400 lb. from the rack by the time he had a follow-up visit with his York physician. The amazed doctor said he’d never seen such a fast recovery from such an injury and gave Bob the go ahead to begin training again with very light weights (of course he was unaware of what the athlete had actually been doing – don’t try that at home!).
With the doctor’s green light, Bob began to do C&J’s and eventually light snatches. He and Smitty began to think about competition again and the opportunity came in the form of an Invitational competition in NY, organized by Murray Levin in December of 1967.
Exactly 100 days from the day of his tragic injury at the Pan American Games, Bob stepped on the competitive platform once again in NY. It was no token appearance. After lifting rather cautiously in the press and snatch, Bob smashed the American Record in the C&J with a lift of 450 lb.!
A month later, at the Philadelphia Open (the most prestigious such competition in the country at the time), Bob was determined to inaugurate the new (in the US) 242 ½ pound category). He weighed-in at 241 lb.
Bednarski pressed 415 lb. and snatched 321 lb. He then opened his C&J with 415 lb. and those of us in the audience thought he was done. But Bob did the unexpected and called for a second attempt at 455 lb. The competition had gone on so long that it was already about 2:30 AM and when Bob’s intent to break his own American record set only weeks before, was announced to the audience.
It was as if an electric charge spread instantly through the crowd. We were stunned but thrilled that Bob would try for a new record so soon after his previous record-breaking performance and after such a long day of lifting. Bob strutted to the stage, paced back and forth behind the platform and then raised his arms upwards, then out to his sides in what was to become his signature pre-lift pose. Then he went to work.
He pulled the bar to his shoulders fairly smoothly, but not easily, pushed up hard to get out of the squat and then jerked the barbell solidly overhead. The audience (of which I was a member) went insane. Those of us who had missed Bob’s December miracle had been treated to an unexpected New Year’s gift and we were all buzzing with excitement over what we had just seen.
As we were beginning to gather our things for the trip home, we heard something we absolutely could not believe – that Bob would take still another attempt! It is probably that very few of those in the audience could imagine why Bob would take another attempt after breaking the record, or what it would be. But we were not kept in suspense for very long.
It was announced that Bob had decided he would make an attempt at the absolute world record 220 kg.(485 lb.), with his own attempt at 220.5 kg. We were floored. Imagine a man who perhaps 130 days earlier had been written off as a weightlifter, a man who had just performed two miracles only weeks apart, attempting a weight that was a full 30 lbs over the personal record that he had just established! And remember that he weighed less than 110 kg. – a full 50 kg. less than the man who held the record he was chasing!
Yet, minutes later, there he was, 220.5 kg. loaded on the bar and Bob pacing back and forth again. I have never personally had the pleasure of seeing an audience at any event so mesmerized and electrified. People were screaming and waiving their arms to encourage this most amazing of men who intended to reach for the stars that night.
Murry Levin, who was to go on to become a long term President of USA Weightlifting made a rare show of emotions – he was standing on a chair screaming for Bob to attack the barbell.
After much preparation, Bob pulled on that bar with everything he had, and in a flash he was under it – no deadlift here! Though he tried valiantly to stop the bar, it soon crashed off his shoulders to the platform. Unfazed, Bob jumped up and growled. He seemed to be signaling that while the barbell had won this time, it wouldn’t be so lucky the next time out.
And he was right. I consider myself lucky to have been in the audience that night to have seen such a remarkable attempt, one that would have to rank as one of the most courageous ever performed. I doubt anyone who was there will ever forget that evening. It was pure weightlifting magic.
How did Bob manage to create his “magic”. Certainly one key factor was his ability to create and sustain a belief in his capability to prevail against all odds. In a conversation with Bob during the 1970’s, he told me that one of the keys to his ability to sustain a positive mental attitude was a mental habit that he developed during his meteoric rise.
He learned to almost automatically and instantly categorize all statements made to him as either positive or negative. If he categorized the statement as positive, he would listen carefully to it, then commit it to memory and repeat over and over to himself, emphasizing and expanding on the most motivating aspects of the message he had heard. So if someone said “You are going to be a World Champion some day”, he’d think not only about the statement (which he’d hear over and over in his mind) but also picture that outcome. The result was a tremendous boost in his confidence and enthusiasm.
When he heard a negative remark like “That Zhabotinsky is too big”, he would immediately brush it aside in his mind, never to think of it again. Of course in later years, when Bob was beginning to make some mistakes in his life, such as using certain mind affecting drugs, this mental approach that had made him impervious negativity also caused him to dismiss good suggestions from people who told him he could not succeed if he continued to do use those drugs. So an extremely powerful tool can generate disaster if used improperly, but unbelievable success if used appropriately.
Another factor that contributed mightily to Bob’s success was his legendary ability to concentrate. Bob once told me that, when he was at his very best, he was concentrating so hard on making his lifts that he sometimes didn’t know whether he had made them or not. It was only when he emerged from the focus that had enabled him to make a lift that he noticed referees and audience members waiving their arms. And it was only at this point that he realized he had made the lift!
Bob’s training and powerful mental techniques continued to push him forward. In February, lifting at the National YMCA Championships at a bodyweight of 243 lb., Bob pressed 420 lb. snatched 335 lb. and made 465 lb. in the C&J, the latter lift being another new American Record.
Nevertheless, he was defeated by the fast rising Ernie Pickett, who had pressed a World Record 445 lb. that day. Not to be outdone for long, Bednarski went after Pickett’s total record the next month. He pressed 430 lb., snatched 350 lb. and made 465 lb. in the C&J, to create a new American record in the total of 1245 lb. A month later, he pressed 451 1/2 pounds to take away Pickett’s Sr. World Press Record and make one himself for the first time.
A Historic Day at the 1968 Nationals
By the time the Nationals arrived in June, the word was that Bob was a little overtrained and probably would not attempt any records that day. But instead that day was to become the stuff of which legends are made.
It was an incredibly hot and humid on the day of the competition (high 90’s in temperature, perhaps even 100 degrees, and very humid as well) and there was no air conditioning in York PA’s Willliam Penn High School, where the competition took place.
A number of great lifters fell by the wayside during that competition, overcome by the heat, but not Bob. After pressing a World Record 456 ½ lb. and snatching a second attempt 340 lb. (he did not take a 3rd attempt), he opened with a 425 lb. C&J.
This would have to be considered a very safe opener, but Bob’s intention was to save his energy given the oppressive heat in the venue and how much he’d pushed himself already, with a world record press and fairly heavy snatch. Toward that energy saving end, quite remarkably, Bob only took one warmup in the back room – 325 lb. His first attempt would be a full 100 lb. heavier. Although he typically took relatively few warmups for a competition, such a parsimonious approach was something even he had never done.
After his successful opener with 425 lb. Bob mentioned to coach Joe Mills that he planned to take 466 lb. for his second attempt, to break his own American Record by a pound. At this point, Joe became quite animated, likely because he thought Bob to do more. So he asked Bob somewhat rhetorical question (in a very animated fashion that was typical of Joe when he was excited). “Do you want to be and American recordholder or a world recordholder?” That pushed Bob over the line, and he called for 486 lb., to break the world record.
He would jump a full 28 kg to reach that weight – something unheard of, something that made his record attempt even more amazing. And as if that weren’t enough to make his monumental effort the weather made its contribution as well.
Approaching the platform with his signature stalking style, as Bob extended his arms overhead before he reached down for the massive barbell, lightening flashed outside the auditorium, triggering a huge thunderclap. The silence in the auditorium was deafening. Bob then reached down for the barbell and pulled it up well, moving under it quickly, he caught it slightly low on his shoulders and a little forward. Nevertheless he struggled out of the clean and set for the jerk.
Known as a reliable jerker, Bob was no disappointment here. Locking the bar overhead in a somewhat forward position, as was his custom, he quickly recovered from the split. The excited head referee gave him the down signal almost immediately, and then pandemonium exploded.
Bob had made the greatest floor to overhead lift in the history of mankind, finally taking Zhabotinsky’s record, even though he weighed roughly 100 pounds less than the giant from the USSR, even though the heat in the auditorium had felled many lifters before him, even though he’d had an elbow injury that most thought would end his career only months before (a picture of that historic lift appears at the beginning of this article, above).
His total that day was only about about 7.5 kg. short of of Zhabo’s total – and he had about three months to go the Olympic Games in Mexico City. His future couldn’t have looked brighter.
At the request of Bob Hoffman, Bednarski traveled to Mexico several weeks after the Nationals. At the invitation of the Mexican Weightlifting Federation, he would appear as an extra lifter. Although he wasn’t initially scheduled to go heavy, Bob could never resist an enthusiastic audience.
He decided to make one all-out effort at a World Record for his fans south of the border – this time in the press. He opened his presses with the colossal weight of 210 kg. (462 ¾ lb), enough to break the world record.
After cleaning the weight, he failed to press it. Not wanting to disappoint the audience, he cleaned that weight 3 more times (4th attempts were permitted for records at that time) but could not hold the press overhead on any of those attempts.
An objective appraiser might have considered Bob’s informal exhibition incredible, even with the missed presses. After all, there was probably no other lifter in the world who would have considered cleaning 210 kg. 4 times in one day.
But there were those who had other viewpoints on Bob’s performance. I actually heard an official who was on the selection committee for the 1968 Olympic Team say “How dare Bednarski start with such a weight, he needs to be taught a lesson”. Sadly, the attitude of that official was apparently not a lone one. There were a number who felt Bednarski was “too big for his britches”. An opportunity to teach him that lesson would soon appear.
Tragedy at the Olympic Trials
The Final Olympic Trials were held August of 1968, in York, PA, only six weeks before the Olympic Games (the Nationals were categorized an a “Pre-Olympic Trial”, performances at which were supposed to be counted toward making the Olympic Team).
On the advice of Bob Hoffman and John Terpak, who would coach the Olympic Team that year, Bob did not peak for the Trials. The coaches had assured Bob that all he needed to do at the Trials was to show he was still in shape and he would be selected for the Olympic Team.
Consequently, Bob therefore elected to train right through the Trials, in hopes of reaching his peak in Mexico City at the Olympic Games. He did not plan on extending himself at the Trials themselves.
After making a relatively low (for him) press, of 192.5 kg.424 lb., Bob snatched a personal best of 162.5 kg. and had a near miss with 165 kg. His personal record snatch, added to the press and C&J he made at the Nationals only weeks before, equalled the World Record total.
In the C&J, Bob made 205 kg., missing two heavier attempts. In the meantime, his two closest rivals, Joe Dube and Ernie Picket had managed to accumulate totals that were higher than Bob’s that day, pushing him into third place at the final trials. But those totals were well below what Bob had done at the Nationals.
During the competition, Bob was first informed that he might actually have to defeat Joe Dube and/or Ernie Pickett, so he tried valiantly to outlift them in the C&J, after having taken it relatively easy in the press.
In and effort to demonstrate is fitness, Bob took a 4th attempt in the C&J, with a World Record breaking 222.5 kg. He actually shouldered that record weight but failed to stand up from the squat. Despite the fact that his best lifts made at the Nationals and Trials equaled the World Record in the total, the selection committee responsible for choosing the Olympic Team that year decided not to take Bednarski to the Games.
Here was a man who held two of the four World Records in this bodyweight category, who made a personal record in the snatch at the Trials while training through them and whose best lifts were equal to the World Record in the total. Yet the decision was made to leave him home (there were no objective, pre-announced, standards for selecting a team in those days).
Standing in the parking lot of the Yorktowne Hotel that day, the place where the selection committee meeting had taken place, I was devasted by the news that Bob had not been selected to the team travelling to Mexico. I felt it was of the most unjust decision ever made by weightlifting authorities in the US. I still do. But that experience triggered in me the commitment to make the team selection process transparent and objective. It took a decade to accomplish that, but in eventually got done and made USA Weightlifting one of the national governing bodies recognized by the USOC as having a model selection process, but of course that did Bob no good.
It was later reported that when the Olympic Weightlifting Team from the USSR learned that Bednarski was not with the US team, they could not believe their good fortune.
To his credit, Joe Dube won a bronze medal for the US, though with a total well below his best. Ernie Pickett became ill from the water in Mexico and was unable to complete a press. And Zhabotinsky cruised to victory, having to make only his opening C&J and winning with a total that was a approximately 7.5 kg. under Bednarki’s total at the US Nationals.
The Selection Committee’s short sighted decision proved not only to be a disaster for the US Team (excluding the one man who had a chance to win), but it was to have a tragic effect on Bob Bednarski’s life.
Years later, Bob told me what I had already suspected, that the committees’ decision to leave him home in 1968 had extinguished his “magic”. Bob would go on to lift some amazing weights in later years, to set World Records and to win a World Championship, but he was never able to regain the momentum that had enabled him to do such miraculous things in 1966-68. He was never able to give his full heart to weightlifting again, to trust those who ran the sport, or to truly believe that he could do anything he set his mind to do.
It was reported in S&H magazine that Bednarski had made a C&J with 500 lb. at the York Gym, just before the Olympic Games in 1968, in a sort of vain effort to prove he should have been in Mexico City. But Bob told me personally that the report was a fabrication. He did shoulder 222 1/2 kilos in the gym at that time, but he did not recover from squat position with that weight.
Bob was deeply depressed about failing to make the 1968 Olympic Team. However, he continued to train, if not with the same intensity. In November of 1968, at a birthday celebration for Bob Hoffman, Bednarski pressed 400 lb., snatched 330 lb. and made a C&J of 462 lb., all believed to be World Records in the newly adopted (on an international level) 242 ½ lb. bodyweight category. Weeks later, he totaled in excess of 1200 lb. for the first time in the 242 ½ lb. division. He pressed 405 lb., snatched 332 lb. and made 465 lb. in the C&J.
In March of 1969, he cleaned and jerked 473 lb. in training, at a bodyweight of 236 lb. At the Nationals, in June, he pressed 400 lb., snatched 345 lb. (which actually weighed 347 1/2 lb.) and made 465 lb. in the C&J (which actually weighed 466 1/2 pounds). His lifts constituted new World Records in the snatch, jerk and total.
A Delayed Victory at the World Championships
Later that year, Bob competed at the World Championships for the first time in the 242 ½ lb. (110 kg). bodyweight category. He pressed 182.5 kg., snatched 160 kg. and made 212.5 kg. in the C&J, for a new World Record in the total, or so almost everyone thought.
However, after Bednarski’s last C&J, the Soviet delegation contested the lift. They argued that Bednarski had not changed his last attempt from an initially called for 457 ¼ lb. to 468 ¼ lb.in time for the change to be legal. Their argument prevailed for the moment.
Bob’s last C&J was taken away and he was declared the silver medalist. The American’s were not the only ones upset. The audience on the host country (Poland) was incensed. They had been rooting for Bednarski (who was of Polish descent) over the USSR lifter, Jan Talts (the USSR was considered by many to be an unwelcome occupier of Poland at the time).
A year later, an official IWF investigation proved that Bednarski and the American contingent had changed Bednarski’s 3rd attempt to a heavier weight in ample time, but the officials had delayed communication with the announcer. Consequently, the gold medal was awarded to Bob retroactively, though he had been robbed forever of the thrill of mounting the winner’s platform when the victory was still fresh and hearing the National anthem played.
In January of 1970, Bob was reportedly in shape to attempt to 500 lb. C&J, at a bodyweight of 242 lb. Lifting at the Philadelphia Open, he made a token press of 350 lb., a token snatch a 300 lb. and waited for the others to finish their C&J’s.
He then opened with 470 lb., the most weight he’d ever opened with in this life and enough to break the world record. He cleaned that weight three times, but in an unusual development for him (he was normally a very sure jerker), he missed the jerk each time.
Before the 1970 Nationals, it was reported that Bob pressed 430 lb. in training, snatched 341 lb., shouldered 501 lb. in the clean (but was unable to stand up) and jerked 525 lb. from the racks (this latter lift was witnessed by many, as well as photographed).
At the Nationals, Bednarski pressed for 410 lb., which actually weighed 415 ¼ lb., snatched 330 lb. and made 445 lb. in the C&J.
At the Worlds, later that year, he had a relatively poor performance, pressing only 402 ¼ lb., snatching 325 ¼ lb. and making 440 ¾ lb. in the C&J, for a disappointing third-place finish.
At Philly open in 1971, an out of shape Bednarski pressed 350 lb., snatched 335 lb. and cleaned and jerked 415 lb. He was experiencing some knee trouble at the time.
At the Nationals later that year, Bob opened with 187 1/2 kg in the press (413 ¼ lb.), hoping to excel in that lift and hold off his competitors to garner another National Championship (this the first US Nationals where kilo barbells were used – prior to that, all Nationals use barbells that were calibrated in pounds).
Bednarski made two shaky cleans on his first two attempts in the press, and then failed to press the weight each time. However, on his third attempt, he seemed to exhibit some of his previous abilities, making a very easy clean and confidently setting up to press the weight in his characteristic layback position.
Most of those in the audience that day, especially those who knew Bob well, thought this press would surely go. Unfortunately, Bob never received the signal to begin the press.
Center referee, Bob Hoffman, simply never signaled Bob to start the lift (a lifter had to motionless before starting the press to receive a signal to start). After holding the barbell in a starting position for many seconds, Bednarski began to tremble from the load. He ultimately dropped the bar and left the stage in disgust.
There were varying explanations provided for the behavior of Bob Hoffman at than moment, with many believing that the aging patriarch of US weightlifting had fallen asleep at that moment.
Hoffman himself claimed that as Bob cleaned his 3rd attempt, Hoffman’s failure to deliver the signal was a result of his deep disappointment at how poorly Bob was lifting and a personal reverie about the athlete’s prior performances.
Whatever, the reason, the failure to receive a signal was catastrophic for Bednarski. Although he was granted a further attempt by the officials, he was out of energy by this time and was unable to complete the lift.
Bednarski next appeared at the 1972 Philadelphia Open, with clearly ailing knees. He been pressing fairly heavy weights from the rack and managed a 400 lb. press, but he took token lifts of 275 lb. in the snatch and 325 lb. in the C&J. Later that year, he failed to make a total at the Nationals and many thought Bob was finally through.
However, Bednarski managed to heal his knees and he was healthy enough to appear in a competition in March of 1973. At that year’s Nationals, in June, he made one snatch with 145 kg. (319 ¾ lb.), tying him with defending champion, Frank Capsouras, with Bob being the heavier man. Bob outlifted Frank in the C&J with 197.5 kg. (435 ¼ lb.) to win his 5th and final National Championship. He retired following that Nationals.
Though he’d won the 1973 Nationals, Bob was truly a shell of his former self. What had caused his fall from the pinnacle of world weightlifting? At least part of the explanation is that he grew up in an era of drug experimentation, the 1960’s. It was an era when many thought that drugs were the answer to all of mankind’s physical and spiritual problems.
It was at this time that anabolic steroids came into prominence in the sports world. But athletes were experimenting heavily with many other kinds of drugs as well. Among those drugs were amphetamines and other forms of stimulants. One drug that was popular in York at the time was the stimulant known as Desoxyn which was used to treat attention disorder.
Bob felt the drug gave him as added boost of energy, so he used the substance for heavy workouts and competitions (remember that there were no bans against drug use at the time and testing for most drugs was many years away). After taking this stimulant, Bob found it hard to sleep. He was introduced to barbiturates as a means to calm himself down after taking the stimulant. He soon began to rely on the barbiturates to sleep, which many people did at the time. Unfortunately for Bob, he developed an addiction to them.
Physicians were prescribing these drugs regularly to those who complained of anxiety and trouble sleeping. What many physicians at the time did not realize was that barbiturates are one of the most addictive forms of drugs. Users often need to take more and more to get the same relaxing effects.
Bob had a real problem with these drugs, and it wasn’t until he moved out of York, and with the support of some wonderful friends, that he was able to kick his habit, go on to a productive life and even make the a subsequent credible comeback in weightlifting.
But during the period when Bob was taking a “witches brew” of drugs to balance his moods, they were wreaking havoc on his mind and body, turning what had once been arguably the greatest lifting machine in the world into a much more ordinary lifter. Even the greatest can be felled by such drugs.
One Last Comeback
When Bob retired in 1973, most people, including him, thought that would be the last they’d ever see of the great Bednarski on a weightlifting platform. But in 1975, Bob returned to training, in hopes of finally making an Olympic Team.
Lifting at a heavier bodyweight than ever before – about 275 lb., Bob made a personal record of 360 lb. in the snatch, and made a 450 lb. C&J officially. It looked like he might actually qualify for the Olympic Team. In fact, Bob told me that it was during this period that he made his lifetime best C&J of 490 lb. (at Joe Mill’s Central Falls Weightlifting Club).
Sadly, Bob’s body began to run down and in early 1976, he was forced to call it quits. This time, his retirement was for good. He would never again mount a weightlifting platform.
The Remarkable Training Methods of Bob Bednarski
If one looked at the greats in weightlifting’s history, it would be hard to find a lifter at a high level that trained any less than Bob Bednarski.
That was not because he was lazy, or because he had never tried training harder. Rather it was a result of trial and error that convinced him less, for him, was more.
When Bob started lifting, most high level lifters were training nearly every day, although few were training more often than once a day, a practice that become popular well after Bob had retired.
In his owe career, Bob had started by training a few days a week and gradually increased the number of days per week, as well as the number of hours he trained per training session. However, over time, he began to experiment with training less, not fewer days but using shorter sessions (e.g., instead of three exercises on a given day, he might do two).
Over time, his reduction in training volume got to a point where in most training days (typically training five to six days per week). He’d do only one exercise per training session. And this is how he trained during the apex of his career, with the exception of Saturday training sessions where he’d typically do two exercises. The only time he’d do three exercises was in a competition, when there were three lifts required (in the era of the press).
His explanation was that since he discovered he lifted more when he trained less, he decided to maintain this extremely low level of volume (he did tend to go heavy on the lift he had selected on a given day, although not always to a maximum).
For example, he might snatch on Monday, press on Tuesday and squat on Wednesday. Only on his Saturday workout would he do two exercises on a training day. This was definitely unusual, if not unique, in his era, His reasoning was that the goal of his lifting was to always lift more, and someone lifted more by training less, that is what they should do.
Training with Bob was a unique experience, which I had the honor and pleasure of doing on a number of occasions. This was partly because of the brevity of his workouts, but also his warmups. I’d be stretching and doing a warmup with light weights, while Bob was beginning to lift the heaviest weights of his training session. There were times when I hadn’t even reached the heaviest sets of the day in my first exercises of the training session, and Bob would be packing up to leave (although if anyone was going heavy he’d often stick around to cheer them on).
Former Jr. National Champion, Bob Madow, told me of one workout he’d taken with Bob in the York gym which kinds of sums up the training with Bob experience. Bob walked in and announced his intention to do some heavy cleans that day. He began with 60 kg. for a single. On his next set, he did 100 kg.. In his next set he cleaned 150 kg. He then took his next set with 200 kg. To the amazement of all, out of nowhere, he attempted to jerk the 200 kg. after he’d cleaned, and come close to making the lift. As this point posed the rhetorical question to his training mates “How much is the World Record in the C&J?” Bob well knew it was 215 kg., by Yaan Talts, then of the USSR (he lived in Estonia, a part of the USSR at the time but later a separate country).
At this point, Bob called for 217.5 kg., which he promptly cleaned and successfully jerked! Here was a man whose first successful jerk of the day was 217.5 kg., after only having even tried one jerk (200 kg.) before that.
While Bob loved drama and showing off, he was a great person to train with. He was bubbly, always displaying high energy and a sense of fun (though not when then serious time of trying a heavy weight came for him, or anyone he was training with. He loved applause but he loved generating applause and congratulatory words as well. If you make a personal record in training, whether it was 50 kg. or four times that much, he was cheering you on and among the first to congratulate, as well as tell others with glee “Jimmy just did a PR”.
Induction Into the USAW Hall of Fame and More
On the occasion of Bob’s induction into the USAW Hall of Fame, I told him “When one looks up into a dark evening sky, one can see what appear to be a countless number of stars. But the star that one remembers most after an evening of gazing is the “shooting star”. And so it was with you Bob. Your star streaked across the American weightlifting scene in the late 1960’s, thrilling observers and lighting the way for others to come. It was as star that those of us who were fortunate enough to see will never forget.”
Bob died in 2004, just shy of the age of 60. When I heard of his passing, The phrase – “we will not see his like pass this way again” immediately entered my mind. It is a phrase overused by writers penning obituaries, but in this case it is true. In the minds of those were around in the 60’s, Bob’s star will always shine brightly. How fortunate some of us were to have seen it shoot across the sky!