Kaarlo Kangasniemi

Kaarlo Olavi Kangasniemi (born 4 February 1941) is a retired Finnish weightlifter. Between 1968 and 1972 he won one Olympic, two world and two European titles in the 90 kg division, becoming the only Finnish weightlifter to win either an Olympic or world title. In the same period he set 16 ratified world records: four in the press, seven in the snatch and five in the total.[1] He placed sixth at the 1972 Olympics and seventh in 1964. Kangasniemi was chosen as the world's best weightlifter in 1969 and as the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year in 1968 and 1969. After retiring from senior competitions in 1973 he worked as a weightlifting coach and weightlifting commentator with Eurosport; he continued competing in the masters category, winning a world title and setting a clean and jerk world record.[2] In 1987 he was a candidate to the Parliament of Finland from the Finnish Rural Party, but was not elected. In 1998 he was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.[3][4]

Kaarlo Kangasniemi
1968
Personal information
Full nameKaarlo Olavi Kangasniemi
Born4 February 1941 (1941-02-04) (age 79)
Kullaa, Finland
Height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight72–95 kg (159–209 lb)
Sport
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
Men's weightlifting
Representing  Finland
Olympic Games
1968 Mexico City-90 kg
World Weightlifting Championships
1968 Mexico City-90 kg
1969 Warsaw-90 kg
1971 Lima-110 kg
European Weightlifting Championships
1968 Leningrad-90 kg
1969 Warsaw-90 kg
1970 Szombathely-90 kg
1972 Constanța-110 kg

Kangasniemi was born to a blacksmith and had seven brothers and three sisters. Four of his brothers were Finnish champions in weightlifting, and one, Kauko, competed at the Olympics. The Kangasniemi brothers had a rivalry at the national championships with the four Kailajärvi brothers.[2]

References
  1. Kaarlo Kangasniemi. chidlovski.net
  2. Arthur Chidlovski (March 2008) One-on-One with Kaarlo Kangasniemi. chidlovski.net
  3. Weightlifting Hall Of Fame. iwf.net
  4. Kaarlo Kangasniemi. sports-reference.com
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