Bobby Higgins - A World Weightlifting Championship Underdog

In 1947, Bob Hoffman, the owner of the York Barbell Company and the publisher of Strength and Health magazine, took the risk of running the first World Weightlifting Championship ever hosted in the US. The US dominated that event, winning every bodyweight category. Among the men who played a key role in that unprecedented victory was Bobby Higgins.

Coming into World Championship’s Bobby Higgins (shown above) was both a rookie and an underdog. He’d been beaten at the US Nationals that year by his team mate on that year’s US World team – Emerick Ishikawa.

In addition, Nam Su-II of Korea would be competing, and he had the highest previous lifts of any of the athletes participating at the 1947 Championships in Higgin’s bodyweight category. Finally, fast rising Rodney Wilkes, of Trinidad, was expected to be a contender.

Despite the odds against him coming into that competition, Bobby had the day of his life and won the 60 kg. bodyweight category of that coveted championship in what proved to be both the highlight of his career and an audience thriller. Here is how Higgins did it.

There has been relatively little written about Bobby Higgins (shown above) so it is not clear how he became involved in Weightlifting. We do know that he competed in his first Nationals in 1942, placing a distant 4^th in the 123 lb. bodyweight category with a 455 lb. total. The following year, he improved his total considerably and placed third with a total of 525 lbs.

In 1944, he took third place again, but his total had improved dramatically, to 610 lb. He did not compete at the 1945 Nationals, possibly because of military service.

Although he was featured on the cover of Strength & Health magazine in 1946, Bobby did not compete at the Nationals that year either.

The year 1947 was to be Bobby’s best year ever and he got it under way on the National level by winning the Junior Nationals with a 645 lb total. That total included a meet record of 210 lb. in the press, a record that lasted for more than 20 years. Holding a record for 20 years is an amazing feat under any circumstances, but when one considers that Higgins’ press was made strict style, and that in later years styles got considerably less strict, the longevity of his record is even more impressive.

Later that year, Bobby found himself in extremely close competition with Emerick Ishikawa, who, as was noted earlier, had moved up to the 132 lb category in 1946 and had won the Nationals.

These two athletes battled down to the wire at the 1947 National Championships. Higgins took the early lead with what was believed to have been an American record 225 lb press. But Ishikawa lifted more than Higgins in the snatch and C&J, to nose Higgins out in the total by 5 lbs, with 670 to Higgins’ 665. A battle that close always has weightlifting fans yearning for a rematch and they didn’t have long to wait. That opportunity presented itself at the 1947 World Championships.

At those championships, Ishikawa and Higgins would faced two of the most respected lifters in the world – Nam Su II of Korea and Rodney Wilkes of Trinidad. Nam, a near mythical lifter, had established world records in all 3 lifts in 1939 (105 kg, 102.5 kg, and 127.5 kg). His press still stood as the World Record on the eve of the competition in Philadelphia and no one had exceeded his best total.

Wilkes was lesser known, but as he was to prove at the World Championship’s, and in subsequent international events, he was an emerging force to be reckoned with.

At the World Championships, Emerick ran into trouble with his press early on, making only his first attempt with 87.5 kg. ( he actually pressed 92.5 kg. but that lift was turned down by the referees in a 2 to 1 decision against him).

Su II made 90 kg. and then 95 kg. in the press, on a 3rd attempt (well below his previous World Record of 105 kg.).

In the meantime, Higgins had opened his presses with 95 kg., just before Su II made his 3rd attempt at that weight. Bobby followed with a second successful attempt at 102.5 kg. He then made 105 kg. on this third attempt to take a commanding lead after the press.

In contrast to the press, Higgins opened first among the three leaders, with 85 kg. in the snatch, which was a success. Both Nam and Ishikawa opened and succeeded with 90 kg. in the snatch. Higgins then succeeded with the same 90 kg. but failed in an attempt to snatch 92.5 kg.

The door was now open for Nam and Ishikawa, and both of them took advantage of their opportunities to catch up on Higgins by making 95 kg. in the snatch. However, both failed with third attempts at 97.5 kg.

Reporting on the event, Bob Hoffman mentioned that Nam used a style in the snatch whereby he pulled the weight above his head and then pressed it out while he was sitting in the squat position (a technique apparently permitted at that time).

After the snatch, Higgins held the lead with a sub-total of 195 kg., Nam was in second with 190 kg., Rodney Wilkes, of Trinidad, was in third position with 185 kg., and Ishikawa was in fourth with 182.5 kg.

Wilkes missed 120 kg. in the C&J twice, then jumped to 127.5 kg. “all or nothing” attempt and failed once again, so was out of the competition (Wilkes would go on to win a silver medal at the Olympics in 1948, an Olympic bronze in 1952 and he won the Pan American Games in 1951 – becoming the most decorated lifter in Trinidad’s history).

In the C&J Higgins was the first to start from among the top three, successfully lifting 115 kg., but failing on his next two C&Js. He’d made a personal record total of 310 kg. He’d made the performance of his life, but now had to wait to see if any of the three opponents who had a chance at overtaking could succeed on their remaining attempts. As was noted above, Wilkes failed to make a C&J so was out of the running).

Nam succeeded with his opening attempt at 117.5 kg. in the C&J, then twice cleaned the 122.5 kg. he needed to overtake Higgins, but he was unable to jerk them. So at this point he sat in second place.

Ishikawa succeeded with his opener at 120 kg., then called for the 127.5 kg. he needed to tie Higgins and win on lighter bodyweight (in those days, when two lifters made the same total, the lighter man placed higher). Because Emerick weighed more than Nam, if he had succeeded with 125 kg. he would have remained in the third place position he’d already earned, hence the choice of 127.5 kg. Ishikawa failed on his first attempt on the clean.

Then the arena became silent as Emerick approached the bar for his final attempt. He made a herculean effort in the clean, stood up and jerked the bar to arm’s length, then staggered for what Hoffman estimated was 6 to 8 seconds to bring the bar under control. But it was not be on this day, as the bar fell slowly back to the platform despite Ishikawa’s heroic efforts.

It had clearly been the greatest day of Bobby Higgins’ weightlifting career. He had never won a National championship, and he never would. But, given the opportunity of his life, Bobby Higgins turned in the performance of his life, to become champion of the world and help the US team to win a perfect team victory as well.

Although he began the Olympic year of 1948 with high hopes, that year turned out to be a disappointing one for Higgins. He’d started with hopes of Olympic glory at the 1948 Games, but an infection that developed in Bobby’s hand just prior to the Nationals hindered his performance so much that he missed all of his C&Js at that Championships. He was not able to recover prior to the Olympic Games and did not make the team.

While fans had seen the last of Bobby Higgins on a national or international stage, he was far from finished with the sport of weightlifting. He went on to run a successful gym in Indianapolis for many years, and in 1953 he sponsored the National Championships in that city.

But it was for the day of his life performance at the 1947 World Championships that he will always be remembered. And he should be.