Middleweight (≤75 kg), Men

At the 1947 World Championships, American Stan Stanczyk won this class defeating his teammate Frank Spellman, while another American, Pete George, won gold as a lightweight. George moved up in weight to compete in London as a middleweight, while Stanczyk also added weight and was in the light-heavyweight class, leaving George and Spellman as middleweight favorites. The defending champion from Berlin was Egypt’s Khadr El-Touni, and he was back in an attempt to add another gold medal, and had to be considered, having won the 1946 World Championship.

The lead in the press was taken by Korean Kim Seong-Jip, third at the 1947 Worlds, followed by El-Touni, with Spellman third, and George trailing Kim by 17.5 kg. After the snatch, Spellman and El-Touni were tied at 237.5 kg, followed by Kim, with George moving into fourth place. However, the Americans prevailed in the clean & jerk, with Spellman winning the gold medal when George failed on his final attempt with 165.0 kg. Kim and El-Touni tied with a total of 380.0 kg, but Kim won Korea’s first ever Olympic medal because of his lighter bodyweight (72.92 kg to 74.90 kg).