Lightweight (≤67½ kilograms), Men

Soviet Viktor Bushuyev was World Champion in 1957-59, and held the world record coming in to Rome. In an event with no other major competitor, he was heavily favored. Bushuyev took the lead in the press with 125.0 kg, and was 15 kg ahead after the snatch. He easily won the gold medal, leading Singapore’s Tiger Tan by 17.5 kg. Tan, born Tan Howe-Liang, was the first Olympic medalist from Singapore. The bronze was won by Abdul Wahid Aziz, which through 2016, remains the only Olympic medal by an Iraqi athlete.

The fourth- and fifth-place finishers, both Poles, had the most impressive Olympic records of any of the competitors in this class. Marian Zieliński was fourth, after winning a bronze medal in 1956 as a featherweight. He would compete at the Olympics in 1964 and 1968, winning bronze medals in this class both times. At those Games, he trailed his countryman, the fifth-place finisher in Rome, Waldemar Baszanowski, who won lightweight gold at both Tokyo and Mexico City. One of the greatest lifters of the 1960s, Baszanowski won five World titles, five European titles, and was the first man to clean & jerk more than 2½ times his bodyweight.