This is the story of two young Olympic weightlifting enthusiasts. Both were born during the Cold War; both were named David. They came from opposite sides of the political platform. One grew up as a farm boy in the former Soviet Union; one grew up as the only son of wealthy parents in NYC USA.

David Rigert
Our first David surnamed Rigert was one of two Soviet light-heavy entries at the 1970 world championships held at Ohio State University in Columbus. Vassily Kolotov the primary entry dominated that class and David, a first-timer in world competition, was merely fielded to win runner-up honors for the team. As it turned out he would become the most honored lifter in the entire championships.

David Rigert sequence photos courtesy Leonard Bacino.
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David Rigert at the Europe vs. America Competition Gettysburg PA in 1975 attempting a world record. 

For his first attempt David cleaned 182-1/2 kgs well but missed the jerk. His second attempt with the same weight was worse because he could not stand up with it. On his final attempt he made a slow dive for the bar and the weight was cleaned perfectly as he went into the full squat position. As he tried to stand up with the chrome-plated York barbell the 182-1/2 kgs looked like it weighed a ton. What followed was a fierce and grueling struggle. Inch by inch the bar rose and the higher it rose the heavier it seemed to get. But recover he did. Finally, he braced himself for the jerk. The audience expected him to drop the barbell and call it quits. After all, he had done his best and nobody could ask more at that point. 

Grinding out of the clean.

Then came a short dip of the knees and a flawless splitting of his legs followed by a brilliant recovery to the erect position with the barbell solidly locked at arms length overhead. Three white lights!!! He was actually entitled to a dozen white lights for such a valiant and heroic effort.

Jerking the weight. Notice the reaction of the crowd.

On their feet screaming with delight, the ecstatic crowd would not permit him to exit behind the curtains. Three curtain calls later David could finally leave the platform.

Celebrating his world record c & j.

Three nights later, super-heavy Vassily Alexeev broke the 500-pound barrier by clean and jerking 227-1/2 kgs on his second attempt. But the applause he got was not even a quarter of what David Rigert received and deserved for his fantastic lift of 182-1/2 kgs. The following year David competed in the next higher category and jerked 20 kilos more.

David Berger
Enter the second David, David Berger. During the 1st Asian Weightlifting Championships held in the auditorium of the Far Eastern University in Manila, the burden of running the precedent-setting competition fell on my shoulders being the organizing secretary. Stan C. Carbungco the "Bob Hoffman of our country" provided tremendous help in ensuring the success of that continental tournament.

Photo courtesy Bill Stone.
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(l-r) Yossef Romano, Larry Mintz, and David Berger at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Sadly both Romano and Berger were murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Why was David Berger -- a bona fide New Yorker -- lifting in an Asian meet? Well when he realized much earlier that his chances of making it to the Munich Olympics as a member of the U.S. team was slim, he decided to represent Israel. And Israel was recognized as an Asian country by several international sports organizations. So there he was as a light-heavy (82-1/2 kgs) entry.

The day before the championships we held the first Asian Weightlifting Congress and it was Berger's job to be the official spokesman for his team. When it was his turn to speak, the hall was mesmerized by his eloquence and beauty of his language. People who heard him must be remembering David Berger more as a lawyer than as a lifter. He ended up winning a silver medal because he was matched with a veteran Iranian lifter.

Then came the memorable Munich Olympics the following year. The brightly illuminated stars of the two Davids became ill-starred. The first David missed all his three snatches with 160 kgs and he was out of the Games. The second David on the other hand made the front pages of newspapers all over the world when he became one of the 11 Israel athletes and officials treacherously massacred by Palestinian terrorists.

At the solemn memorial services held in the main Olympic stadium, 11 empty chairs were neatly arranged at the centerpiece to symbolize the fallen sportsmen. We were fully aware that one of the chairs was intended for David Berger. All the 122 national flags flying around the stadium were lowered to half staff as a tribute to the Israelis. As the sad ceremonies went on we could sense the 11 martyrs looking down from above fully aware that they were getting more glorious honors than ever. President Richard M. Nixon ordered a special Air Force plane to bring David Berger's body back to the USA.

Rigert, the surviving David, later redeemed himself from his Munich debacle by winning the gold medal in the Olympic Games in Montreal. All in all he won six world titles and established 63 world records in three bodyweight categories. Years later he was officially designated coach of the Russian national team.

Asides
Incidentally, I was a referee in the featherweight class (60 kgs) of the 1971 world championships held in the Peruvian capital of Lima. There were seven entries in the evening session. So, with three attempts for each lifter there were a total of 21 attempts in all and I turned on the red light 18 times. That resulted in the outright disqualification of: M. Nowak the Polish champ, Dito Shanidze the Soviet champ, Manuel Mateos the Mexican champ and M. Huapaya the host country's champ. Bob Hoffman later playfully called me his "red light friend from the Philippines."

The Jury was in a turmoil. Jury member Tamas Ajan of Hungary, the future IWF president wanted to figuratively jerk me out of my referee's chair. But Clarence Johnson the Jury president and concurrently IWF head vigorously defended me and made it clear to all that I was just enforcing the rules correctly and effectively. With that nobody could argue with him anymore and the show went on. Oscar State the venerable IWF general secretary later published his report in an international magazine saluting my courage and efforts in not letting some of the world's most notorious lifters get away by breaking the rules.

As an epilogue, I had the satisfaction of joining the IWF Weightlifting Congress held in conjunction with the 1972 Munich Olympic Games that dropped the controversial "two-arm press lift" from all future official competitions. It was a clear vindication of previous doubts regarding my strict officiating in international meets.

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About the Author: Salvador A. Avendanio is a former Philippine National Student Gold Medallist and General Secretary of the Philippine Weightlifting Association who went on to become an official delegate to Olympic, World, and Asian Championships in weightlifting, powerlifting, wrestling, martial arts, and bodybuilding. In 1970 Sal was elevated to Category 1 referee status by International Weightlifting Federation General Secretary Oscar State. Sal has authored books on weightlifting, physical culture, and martial arts. A contributing editor of Sports Weekly and Philippine Sports News, his articles and photos of the World and Asian Weightlifting Championships were published in Bob Hoffman's venerable Strength & Health magazine. Sal has interacted with many of the legends in the weightlifting world and is the patriarch of a weightlifting family: Two of his brothers won medals in national competition while three nephews earned their college degrees from the University of Baguio through weightlifting scholarships. Sal settled in Texas in 1984 and moved to New York City two years later to marry his wife Linda. Today Sal still resides in New York City and is very active in officiating local meets and the New York State Empire State Games. Sal could be reached at Saavendanio@aol.com.

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