Arnold Luhaäär took up weightlifting in 1919 and was the best Estonian weightlifter at the end of 1920s and in the 1930s. Competing as a heavyweight, he won silver at the 1928 Olympics and bronze at the 1936 Olympics. He missed the 1932 Olympics, and a possible third medal, because Estonia did not send an Olympic team to those Games due to the Depression. In addition to his Olympic medals, Luhaäär won silver at the 1933 European Championships and bronze at the 1938 World Championships. He was Estonian heavyweight champion eight times (1926, 1928, 1932-34, 1936-38), won one Estonian Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestling title in 1931, and set one heavyweight clean & jerk world record in 1937.
After finishing his sporting career, Luhaäär worked as a sports official and weightlifting referee. From 1935-40 Luhaäär was a board member and general secretary of the Estonian Weightlifting Federation and, from 1945-50, was a board member of the Estonian SSR Weightlifting Federation. From 1946-48 he also served as the president of Spartak Tallinn and, from 1949-52, was the chairman of Estonian SSR Weightlifting Federation’s Board of Referees. Since 1992, an annual memorial tournament in his honor has been held in Mõisaküla, Estonia.
Estonia