Imre Földi

Career Földi first participated at miners' championships and in 1957 he already won his first Hungarian National Championships title. Földi won a silver medal at the 1970 World Championships, but this result was annulled after a positive doping test.

After winning three world championships silver medals in a row, Földi finally won the world title in 1965, an achievement he repeated in 1972. He participated at his first Olympics in 1960, where he finished sixth.

Four year later at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City Földi came even closer to the gold, losing only on body weight – both him and his opponent Mohammad Nassiri ended with an overall result of 367.5 kg, which was a new world record; however, Nassiri was 300 grams lighter thus he was awarded the Olympic title.

Földi eventually reached the top in 1972 when he won the Olympic gold medal – and doubled it as a World Championships title – in front of his main opponent Nassiri. In the press, both Földi and Nassiri lifted 127.5 kg for a tied Olympic record. In the snatch, Földi raised 107.5 kg and built up a slight advantage over Nassiri (105.0 kg). In his first clean & jerk attempt, Nassiri raised 142.5 kg, 5 kg better than Földi; he next tried 152.5 kg, bit failed all of his remaining attempts. Földi, on the other hand, lifted 142.5 kg, setting a world record in the total at 377.5 kg and winning the gold medal.

Földi made his final Olympic appearance in 1976 in Montreal, where he became the first weightlifter to compete in five Olympics, a record that would only be matched by Germans Ingo Steinhofel and Ronny Weller 28 years later.

Aged 38, he placed fifth. Following an injury next year he ended his career, during which he set 21 world and collected 13 national titles.

In the same year he was awarded the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, just to receive the Officer's Cross of the same decoration a year later.

In 2000 he was voted Weightlifter of the Century in Hungary, and in 2005 he earned the same recognition of the International Weightlifting Federation as well. In 2003 he became honorary citizen of Tatabánya, and since 2009 the local sports hall also bears his name.